The Last Children of Gallifrey
by helios101
Summary: Brilliant & bright, she never saw him looking when they shared the halls of the Time Lord Academy; never saw anything more than a useful advantage in the War. Until now. Until it's only the two of them left. On the day The Master follows the drums back to Gallifrey, she's thrown free of the Lock…changing everything. Because he's not going to let her go. Not now. [11th Doctor/OC]
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who

**_Pairing: (Doctor/OC)_**

**_Summary:_**

_Before the Doctor left Gallifrey, before he stole a wonderful blue box and fled to the stars, he had to learn. And that was where he saw her. Bright, infectious and captivating, from the very first time he saw her in the Academy Halls barely out of his 100's, she'd captured him. _

_The universe knows him as the Doctor. The man that never stops running, never stops fighting, descending on a planet and effortlessly altering their entire history and direction. But not her. To a man who is always his human companions' whole world - unachievable, totally beyond their grasp, incapable of ever truly calling their own - when she comes hurtling through the portal on that day the Master follows the drums back to Gallifrey, unwillingly propelled forward by the countless soldiers under her command, determined to see their debt to her repaid, to save their Commander…the Doctor's life changes. _

_To the universe, the idea that the Doctor was ever unseen, overlooked, unknown, is inconceivable. But that's exactly who and what he is to her. _

_A stranger._

_Brilliant and bright, she never saw him looking when they shared the halls of the Academy; never saw anything more than a useful advantage in the War against the Daleks. _

_Until now. Until it's only the two of them left._

_The last two children of Gallifrey._

…

***The End of Time***

"Think about what you are doing."

The furious, desperate look in Rassilon's eyes did nothing but tighten The Doctor's grip on the gun's trigger.

"There is but one of him, we are many," Wearing the blood red robes of his office, the leader of the Time Lords made an intimidating picture with his back to the blinding portal, but ceremony meant nothing to The Doctor.

"Yeah," The Master interjected swiftly, his cajoling encouragement plain at his back, "but he's the President," he hissed, as if sharing some great secret. "Kill him, and Gallifrey could be _yours_!"

With great effort, The Doctor swung round, keeping his arm steady as he aimed the gun, the effort it took to remain standing sending shocks of pain across his chest.

Blue eyes immediately widened.

"He's to blame, not me!" The Master shouted, throwing his arm towards the figures he'd turned his back on in helpless fury, his expression caught between true fear and rage.

Loud, long churning suddenly moved behind him, but The Doctor caught himself before he could turn, knowing whatever it was would have to wait, that it didn't matter, only one thing did.

"Get out of the way," He growled.

It took The Master but a second to understand, and then he was diving.

He fired.

"_Go, go! Hurry!"_

As bullet met machine, ripping through the fragile link tying Gallifrey and Earth together, the panicked shouting drifting through the still open portal was ignored by all. All eyes focused on the sparking destruction in front of them.

"_What are you doing? What do you think you're doing?!"_

"_It's closing, I can already see it closing!"_

"Get out of the way," He barely had time to register the low command before the energy was already manifesting between The Master's palms.

Uncaring of the damage to his already battered body, The Doctor threw himself out of the way, the heat of energy burning his skin as his former friend threw forward his attack._  
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"_Graham…Graham, no! _**No**_!"_

And, yet, despite the deafening noise and chaos, all manner of eyes watching Gallifrey's one chance of escape reducing to ash, The Master's hateful snarl hurting his hearts, something about that last, piercing scream had The Doctor turning his head.

"_There's nothing more you can do Commander! We are lost!"_

"You did this to me!" Stalking forward, spittle flying from his mouth, there was no hesitation in The Master's attacks, no respite as he aimed blow after lethal blow at the President, following him back towards the portal. "You! You _used _me!"

"_But God help me, we will save you!"_

"Three," The Master spat, eyes dark.

Throwing a desperate look over the chaos in front of him, The Doctor felt the air leave his lungs as his Mother gave him a single, tear-filled smile, love shining from her eyes.

No.

"_No, don't d-!"_

"Four," And with that final count, horrible satisfaction twisting his childhood friend, robed bodies began falling back into the shining portal, back into the Time Lock.

Back to Gallifrey.

Without him.

"_Throw her through! Now!"_

It shouldn't have been possible, but as those last, roaring orders trembled over the barriers between worlds, as all those of his kind standing before him were sucked back into the horror of the war, one body came sailing out.

_Just _one.

And with its appearance, the expression on The Master's face abruptly froze, his eyes fixed on nothing but the graceful arc of the person's fall. Horrified realisation pushing aside all anger, all hurt, until all he seemed to see was them; one, last, whispered word escaping his lips as Gallifrey pulled him unmercifully back.

The portal vanished.

Braced against the floor, his body aching with pain, The Doctor couldn't pull his eyes away from the last place the door between planets had stood, new, familiar devastation choking him.

Again.

He'd sentenced them - his people, his planet - to the horror of the Time Lock…again.

"I'm alive," He breathed, hardly able to grasp the concept past the pain in his hearts. "I'm alive."

Four dull knocks suddenly echoed around the destroyed hall, sending ice through his veins.

The bitterness that ripped through him as he staggered to his feet, gaze locked on the reality of Donna's grandfather trapped in the glass booth before him, was frightening. Especially in a man such as he.

"No," Wilf whispered, horror-struck as he watched The Doctor's slow approach, "No, I'm an old man. I've lived my life. I'm done. Leave me, Doctor!"

If only it were ever that simple.

As if he would ever be able to live with himself if he did.

Feeling the dark, self-depreciating smirk pulling up the right side of his mouth, when Wilf spoke his next words, nothing could have shocked him more.

Because he'd forgotten.

"What about them?!" Wilf screamed, pointing frantically to the side. "I saw them come through the portal, Doctor, I know where they must come from. I know who they have to be! _What _they must be! You can't just abandon them!"

But he wasn't hearing Wilf's increasingly desperate words any longer, shock rendering him immobile.

A body. He'd forgotten about…

With a speed he hadn't known his battered form still capable of, The Doctor spun, eyes frantically scanning the marble floor, looking for the evidence, looking for what he knew he'd seen escape the portal but didn't dare hope for, his heart's stopping when his gaze finally fell on the unmoving figure laying awkwardly against the cold ground.

"You're not alone anymore, Doctor," As if sensing the profound impact the sight of one of his people was having on him, Wilf ruthlessly pressed his advantage, speaking quietly through the glass that trapped him. "That person, right there, they need you. I didn't hear much, not over everything that was happening here, but I heard enough to know that that person there did not expect to come through the portal."

But The Doctor's lightning-fast mind was already eons ahead of the well-meaning human, running over every snippet of dialogue he'd managed to decipher in the chaos, his mind whirling as a terrible hope began to build in his chest, hurting.

The Time Lord's voice…he'd said Commander.

Commander…the highest military rank one could achieve without political power. Never more than five, never less, everyone on Gallifrey knew the Commander's names. They were the five that decided everything. The High Council might have dictated the war's goals, areas they wanted captured or attacks they expected to be launched at the Daleks…but it was the Commanders who decided everything else.

He should know. He'd been one.

"You see, Doctor?" Wilf laughed humourlessly, hands pressed against the glass door, watching him watch the only other Time Lord in existence, "You can't die. You can't die, because whoever they are, they'll need you."

Swallowing, The Doctor walked slowly towards the unconscious figure lying on their side, face hidden behind their exposed back.

It could only be four people.

Only four.

His breathing quickened, becoming laboured as he slowly closed the gap.

"Doctor?"

He didn't know if it was hope, horrible, terrible hope, or something else, but the obvious loyalty in that soldier's voice as he'd disobeyed his superior in an effort to throw them free of the lock…it could be…she…it might be _her_. It might really be _her_!

"…Doctor? What's wrong?"

Now kneeling beside the fallen figure, his hand shook as he reached out to grasp their shoulder, hearts now pounding as he glimpsed a shock of platinum blonde hair fanning out across the floor.

"Doctor?" Wilf breathed, almost like he could feel the air's heaviness, the importance of this moment, unable to break it.

It took the barest touch against shoulder to turn them, a pale, dirt-smudged face rolling towards him, but it was enough.

"…Jana," The longed-for name escaped his lips much as it had The Master's. With wonder.

He didn't know how long he spent watching her, taking her in with hungry eyes, but when his mind finally managed to escape the maelstrom it was caught in, he was on his feet and crossed the auditorium with determined strides, eyes locked on the control panel that he needed to release Wilf from his glass prison.

"Doctor?" The ageing human called hesitantly, watching his blank, iron expression with wary eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting you out," He answered crisply, unwilling to delay.

"But you can't!" Wilf gasped, horrified, shying away from the glass as if that might somehow keep him from rescuing him and taking his place within the radiation as he's only explained to the man minutes earlier. "You'll die, Doctor!"

His hand paused in its reach for the lever.

Glancing up at Donna's grandfather, seeing the truly wretched look in his eyes, he couldn't help looking over his shoulder at the body still lying, unconscious, against the ground.

"No, I won't," He countered softly; cold determination filtering through his veins, darkening his expression to one of such dangerous seriousness, Wilf actually took a step back. "I don't care what the prophecy says. Everything changed the moment _she _came through that gateway…I'm not going anywhere."

And for reasons Wilf couldn't understand, he found himself nodding, believing the Time Lord. It was impossible not to, not with that look in his eyes.

"The radiation will weaken me to the point of death," The Doctor spoke quickly, unable to keep from shooting the body behind him constant, worried glances, "but it will take time for the regeneration process to kick in." He pierced the human with his gaze, holding him prisoner. "Even if it's only three minutes, that's three minutes I won't be able to protect _her _if something happens…I need your word."

He could see the confusion in Wilf's features plain as day, and irritation shot through him, a sense of urgency taking over.

"I need to know that she will be safe, Wilf. That you will protect her. With your life," He demanded seriously, unwilling to open that door until the man understood exactly what he was entrusting to him. "She and I…we're the last."

Understanding, followed swiftly by fierce determination, flooded Wilf's eyes, and the human gave him one, single nod.

"On my life," Donna's grandfather vowed. "You can trust me, Doctor. No harm will come to her."

"…Good."

And then, he yanked open the door, no hesitance in his actions. Something far more important entirely dwarfing fears that had seemed so real, so important, only hours before.

…


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who

…

_**River's POV**_

I've always had some idea about my future.

What was coming for me.

It's hard not to when the people who meant anything to me always knew far more about me than I did them.

_He _knew me.

In a way I never could have conceived of.

To meet someone out of order, you going forwards, them going back…I can't begin to describe how painful it is. Because the moment you gather enough information to realise, to figure out what's happening, to have some idea how it was possible for all those you cared for to know so much about you when you knew virtually nothing of them…things start moving in the opposite direction.

The more I figured out, the more I came to learn, the more he seemed to forget.

And the agony of watching the man you love, the man you adore more than anything in the universe, slowly but surely forget you, to care about you a little less each time you saw him, and you care a little more…

It's torture.

But I never thought this would happen.

I didn't know this _could _happen.

'Time can be rewritten', that's what the Doctor always says.

But I don't think I ever really believed it until now. Until that one, horrible, awful day I turned up in the TARDIS…to find _her_.

By that time, I knew she wasn't supposed to exist. Not for me, and especially not for him. Not like that, not at this time. Yet there she was, with the power of a black hole destroying my reality, my life, my…heart…and she had no idea.

But what was even worse was…neither did the Doctor.

And from that day forward, the timelines split.

The old. And the new.

As a creature of time, a life conceived in the Time Vortex itself, there was no escape from the pain of watching my entire life - past, future, present - slowly unravel. I knew exactly what was changing, what was altering forever…and I couldn't do a thing to stop it.

Because he didn't want it to.

He might not have anything but an intellectual understanding of how the timelines have altered…but neither does he want to.

All he wants is her.

She's the only thing he's ever wanted.

And now that he finally sees a chance, a possibility, of having what he's always craved, desired…no power in the universe will make him give it up.

Let alone me.

River Song. The Doctor's wife.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who

Panting with effort, The Doctor manoeuvred the woman in his arms carefully over the threshold, kicking back with his leg to shut the door.

Loud hums sounded through the TARDIS, lights flickering.

"I know, girl," He murmured lowly, striding as quickly as he could towards the med-bay, the pain of holding his regeneration at bay lancing through his system, making him stumble.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed off from the wall, knowing he wouldn't be able to still his racing mind until he got answers. Until he figured out exactly why the woman in his arms hadn't woken up.

But it was too late.

"Ahh!"

Convulsing where he stood, he realised that he was out of time.

Racing round the corner, The Doctor almost sagged with relief as the doors of the med-bay appeared in front of him, the TARDIS rearranging itself in order to help her thief reach where he needed to go. Slamming into the doors, shielding the woman in his arms with his body, he wasted no time setting his precious cargo into one of the three beds dominating the long room, helpful straps appearing on the rails as he did so.

"Really think we'll need those, girl?" He murmured worriedly, eyeing the wide harness-type bands warily.

He didn't want her to wake only to find herself tied down and helpless.

But all the TARDIS did was hum urgently, as if urging him to hurry, a faint sense of him needing to get her securely strapped in and then get as far away from the blonde woman as possible, flooding his mind. A warning from the ship.

And that was all he needed.

With a hushed apology, The Doctor worked quickly and efficiently, paying no attention to the increasing spasming of his own limbs as his regeneration energy became more and more volatile. He'd already held the process off longer than he should have. Longer than was safe. And he knew that the transformation into his 11th body would be violent. They always were, but this one…this one he'd pushed to the extremes. And it seemed that the TARDIS knew that, knew what was coming wasn't something the injured, unconscious Time Lady in front of him could afford to be caught in. Not if he wanted her to be safe.

"I'll come back," He spoke quickly, harshly, as he pulled the cloth strap tighter, making sure her body would be unable to move no matter what force pushed or pulled at her. "I promise. I'll be back .I'm coming back."

And with that promise, he watched as the legs of the bed seemed to melt into the floor, melding to the ground, blanching.

If the TARDIS was taking such precautions, he shuddered to think of the damage his supressed regeneration was going to do to the ship, what she had foreseen.

"You'll keep her safe, girl, won't you?" It wasn't like him to question the box, knowing that the TARDIS saw far more than he ever could, was far more wise, but in this instance, he couldn't help it.

An angry hum sounded from the med-bay's walls, pulling a quick grin from his lips.

Oh, but he loved his blue box.

Just as he was about to leave, race through the doors in an effort to get as far from the woman he'd strapped down to the bed as possible, The Doctor paused, eyes caught on the dirt smudges littered across her face.

"…You'll be fine," He murmured softly, gently, unable to stop himself from reaching forward to brush a lock of platinum blonde hair from the woman's face, heart clenching with worry when there was no response to his physical touch. "I won't let anything happen to you…I promise." She had to be fine. She had to be!

And then he was out the doors, sprinting down the ever changing halls as Doctor and TARDIS worked together to lead him as far as physically possible from their unexpected visitor, both determined not to see her come to harm.

He'd barely stepped one foot in the console room when the energy he'd ruthlessly been supressing suddenly surged, escaping its barriers, rushing forward.

A new face.

For a very different life.

And for the first time in days, The Doctor smiled, throwing his head back with a laugh, his arms outstretched, letting the regeneration take him without fight, hearts' pounding with the realisation that everything, _everything_, had changed. He wasn't alone anymore. He had her. And there was no way in hell he was going anywhere.

Even if it were a completely different him that experienced everything that was to come.

…She was worth it.

…

"Dear Santa, thank-you for the dolls, and pencils, and the fish. It's Easter now, so I hope I didn't wake you," Amelia winced, really hoping that if she had he wouldn't hold it against her because… "but this is an emergency. There's a crack in my wall." Looking over her shoulder, she bit her lip nervously as her eyes ran the length of the crack, the familiar sight sending a shiver of dread down her spine. "Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack," She continued, rolling her eyes now, "but I know it's not because at night, there's voices. So please, please," The begging note in her voice was plain, "could you send someone to fix it? Or a policeman. Or a-"

A loud crash had her jumping, red hair flying out around her as she turned, wide-eyed, towards her window.

"Back in a moment," She promised, jumping to her feet and grabbing a torch.

Looking out the window, Amelia felt her eyes bulge as she saw a blue police box in her backyard, fallen on its side, and rushed out of her room, thundering down the steps in her haste to reach the back door.

Standing outside, the cold air making her fingers tighten around her dressing gown, Amelia watched with barely hidden impatience as a grappling hook suddenly appeared in the air, the metal grips thunking against the wood as they secured around the box's rim.

And then a man appeared.

Swinging a leg up and over the side, a loud groan echoing through the air, Amelia blinked as a young man suddenly wrenched himself upright, staring down at her in some sort of dazed shock.

"Could I have an apple?"

What?

But the man wasn't done.

"All I can think about. Apples. I love apples," He grinned, looking around her back garden with an air of detached curiousity. "Maybe I'm having a craving?" The sudden exclamation made her grin, liking the way his green eyes lit up with delight, as if the mere thought was wonderful. "That's new. Never had cravings before."

Before she had a chance to say anything, the man abruptly leaned back over the edge, peering down into the box.

"Whoa, look at that!" He laughed loudly, swaying side to side.

"Are you okay?" She asked, knowing enough to know that no-one his age should be acting this strangely.

"Just had a fall. All the way down there, right to the library," Shaggy brown hair flopped about as he quickly looked up, shooting her a secretive grin. "Hell of a climb back up."

But she was having none of it.

"You're soaking wet," Amelia stated flatly, unimpressed.

"I was in the swimming pool."

"You said you were in the library."

He shrugged, unconcerned. "So was the swimming pool."

Well…when he put it like that…

"Are you a policeman?" She couldn't help but ask, the memory of the crack in her bedroom refusing to leave her thoughts, even for such an interesting man as he was proving to be.

As if her question slipped some sort of switch, the young man's demeanour radically changed, the look in his eyes becoming sharp, focused.

"Why?" He said slowly, "Did you call a policeman?"

"Did you come about the crack in my wall?"

"What crack -? Argh!" He yelled, his sentence abruptly cut off as he fell to the ground.

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright, mister?"

"No, I'm fine," He huffed, short of breath as he looked up at her from the grass. "It's okay. This is all perfectly normmmm-!" A breath of golden energy suddenly emerged from his mouth, making her back straighten.

"Who are you?" Amelia demanded.

"I don't know yet, I'm still cooking," The strange man declared, jumping to his feet with an energy that she was sure he shouldn't have considering he'd only just puffed out a great big breath of yellow, sparkly air. "Why?" He questioned, leaning down. "Does it scare you?"

Affronted, she frowned, looking up at him coolly.

"No," Amelia denied, annoyed, "it just looks a bit weird," She shrugged casually.

"No, no, no," He waved aside her words as if they were nothing more than a nuisance, taking another step forward. "The crack in your wall. Does it scare you?"

A firm denial was on the tip of her tongue, just ready to be voiced, but then he caught her eye. Amelia didn't normally listen to adults, felt no need to, all they were was grown up children with bossy tendencies, but something in the strange man's green eyes made her pause, and the answer slipped out of her without permission.

The truth.

"Yes."

"Well then," Suddenly straightening, he grinned down at her, provoking an answering smile from her own lips, "no time to lose. I'm the Doctor. Do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off," He told her sternly, but his eyes twinkled mischievously.

Stepping back, he went to walk forward only to abruptly pause in his step, whirling around to face the still smoking box with wide eyes, expression suddenly all too serious.

Reaching out, he laid his palm against the wood, stroking the paint as one might do a beloved animal companion.

"She's all right, girl?" He murmured, Amelia having to strain in order to hear the soft words. "You're keeping her safe? You _can _keep her safe? I didn't damage you too much?"

The wooden panel suddenly shook, humming with an energy that somehow made her think that he'd offended the blue police box.

Which was absurd, of course!

Laughing gently, the raggedy man laid his forehead against the panel, closing his eyes.

"Sorry, old girl," His apology was affectionate, deep, so personal that even Amelia, as naughty as she could be, didn't feel like she could interrupt, "I just had to be sure."

…

Tinkering away with the controls, the Doctor waited in the console room as he listened to grown-up Amy Pond exclaim with delight as she found the room the TARDIS had created for her, slamming the door behind her as she entered, determined to get some much deserved sleep.

Starship UK had been…an adventure. And not one he was eager to repeat.

Without even thinking about it, the Doctor had found himself promising a sad little girl that she could travel with him, that he would take her to the stars, and then…what was he supposed to do? Just because Amy was all grown up now didn't mean his promise wasn't any less binding. So he'd gone back, back to Leadworth, back to one of the most dull villages he'd ever had the misfortune of stumbling across, and invited the red-haired human to become his companion.

All this done within the space of one hour. At least for him.

But the moment he'd dematerialised the TARDIS, his mind turning to dates and places, his body had gone rigid.

Because all he'd wanted to do was rush to the med-bay.

He knew, intellectually, that nothing was stopping him from doing just that. Of turning on his heel and hurrying up the stairs, barging through the med-bay's doors and running the whole gambit of tests he'd been itching to run on his new blonde guest as soon as physically possible.

But…Amy was there.

And he didn't want her to know about Jana.

However irrational it was.

Jana was…

He'd never been short of friends. Ever. And his two hundred years at the Academy certainly hadn't been an exception to that rule. But he'd always been just that little bit different. Soaking up knowledge of alien civilisations like a sponge, adoring any chance to practice flying TARDIS', and his 'friends' had never understood. Never understood the draw he felt to travel, to explore.

How was he supposed to explain to others of his kind that he wanted _more_? More than Gallifrey, more than them, just…more. And he didn't know why he was different, why that urge was so strong in him, but it was. He loved his home planet; he loved the burning forests, the burnt orange sky, the roaring mountains of ice…but not enough to keep him there. Not enough to hold him.

Until her.

Already 103 when she'd entered the Academy, it wasn't until he was approaching his 150th birthday that he saw her for the first time. Occupying one of the many chairs surrounding a huge round table, easily seating twenty-five, the book he'd been in the process of flipping open completely slipping his mind, eyes locked on the dazzling picture in front of him.

Head thrown back, the sun catching her black hair through the windows, she'd completely captured him, as she seemed to have the entire table of friends that were sitting with her.

In that moment, he hadn't known who she was, hadn't known that she was the Time Lady that had begun to be spoken of in the halls, the same way all the brilliant students of the Academy were talked of, as _he _was talked of. He hadn't known who she was, what she was like, nothing. But at that moment, the sheer _life _that had radiated from her was something that had blinded him, her unrestricted laugh echoed loudly in one of the many Academy libraries, and he'd been lost.

Of course, as the years wore on, he learned exactly who she was.

Like many of their kind, she'd chosen the name Jana on her naming day, liking the fact that it was a name and not a title, per se. He'd learned that she was brilliant, not like him, she wasn't one of the best minds the Academy had seen in centuries, no. But she was known. For her leadership, her charm.

But then he'd married, a forced union thrust upon him by his family, and he'd hated it. And, suddenly, he had even more reason to flee Gallifrey, even more of a yearning to explore, to travel. Even the love he had for his children couldn't stop the increasing dissatisfaction in his hearts, so he'd left…before his displeasure at the way his life had turned out transformed into resentment of them. Because he couldn't stand the idea of resenting his children.

In the centuries that followed, he returned to Gallifrey as infrequently as possible. Made it as difficult for the Time Lords to find him as anyone could. He'd learned, and explored, and fought through so many adventures, so many experiences, he simply couldn't give it up. And he pushed the image of that blinding girl as deep as possible, adopting companions where he would, speeding across space.

And then the Time War erupted.

He'd had centuries to bury the memory of Jana deep in his subconscious, centuries to internalise and intellectualise his strange fascination with what was, essentially, a total stranger. Youthful attraction, romantic idealism, confused respect…because how could such limited glimpses of one person have such a profound impact on a psyche? It wasn't possible. He didn't even know her!

But he never forgot.

And when he returned to Gallifrey to fight, his mind had inadvertently strayed to thoughts of the bright, brilliant girl he'd watched in the Academy halls for fifty years after that first day, until it was time for him to move on…and he'd found her.

Nothing could have shocked him more than walking into the War Room that day, seeing the five Commanders and the fifty highest ranked soldiers stationed around the walls, only to hear her name called.

A short, mousey-haired woman had detached herself from the wall, pale skin doing nothing to hide the soft beauty of her features.

She'd been one of the lowest ranked soldiers in the room at the time, yet, her direct superior had asked her opinion on the strategy they were examining for an attack on the Dalek fleets, and they'd _listened_. Standing with the higher ranked soldiers of the army, the Doctor had watched with alarmed awe as Jana had swiftly examined the attack tactics, only offering three small tweaks to the overall plan before she'd sunk back into her spot against the wall, but those three small changes had been made. Not immediately, not without scrutiny, but they'd been assessed with a critical, serious eye, and then implemented.

He hadn't known what to make of his own mind!

By his own words, the Doctor was a man of peace, yet here he was, staring at a woman that had, for all his efforts, refused to leave his thoughts over the centuries he had experienced life in the wider cosmos, and realised that she was _good _at this.

She was brilliant tactician.

And as the War had dragged on, more and more instances of meetings and computer dialogues had cropped up, and he learned more and more about her.

It wasn't just that she was brilliant at strategy; her command of the soldiers' loyalty was nothing short of awe-inspiring. She'd fight; with everything she had, what she viewed to be a bad decision in the War. She had no compunction against screaming at her Commanders that they were sending her soldiers to their deaths, that they were making a mistake, and then, if they still didn't listen, there was no telling what she'd do. It was almost impossible to predict her. Sometimes, she still carried out those orders, but other times, she took matters into her own hands, directing the thousands of troops under her authority into a completely different action.

He knew, because she'd done it to him once.

Wary of a battle strategy that had been devised by his superiors, the Doctor had nevertheless seen the necessity of their goal for the survival of one of the largest cities of Gallifrey, and determined to proceed with the plan. He'd watched in silence as Jana's current regeneration had yelled and roared at the High Council through the communication devices set up, but in the end, they'd refused to be swayed. About to give the command for the fifteen thousand soldiers under his command to move forward, a screen had sprung into existence before him, and the Doctor, for the first time in his 870 year life, had spoken directly to the woman that had captivated him from the first moment he ever saw her.

She'd told him flatly that she wasn't going to follow the plan, their orders, and she'd wanted to know what he was going to do. As the highest ranking soldier in both their camps, they rarely saw each other or conversed outside of War councils, and it was the first time the two of them had been selected to work with only each other, the size of the numbers under their commands both swelling as the War killed more and more people, sending them sprinting up the army ranks with unprecedented swiftness.

He'd been angry. Furious at her hesitance. Screamed about the necessity of saving the millions of people who inhabited the city they'd been ordered to protect.

She hadn't budged.

He wasn't used to it. Not being listened to. For better or for worse, when the Doctor spoke, people tended to listen, they tended to bow to his intrinsic authority, whether he was right or not.

But not her.

He could see it in her eyes that day, the static image on the screen in front of him…he was nothing more than another soldier in the War to her. One of slightly higher rank, yes, but that hardly mattered to her. He was nothing but an obstacle she had to convince in order to do as she really wished with the combined thirty thousand number of both their camps.

And he'd been shocked.

To the core.

He liked to think that it wasn't vanity or arrogance that had made the realisation that she saw nothing particularly special about him, so hard to take.

But he wasn't used to it.

He wasn't used to being simply a face in the crowd. And that's what she saw when she looked at him.

Just another Time Lord.

And that had never changed.

Not when he'd given in that day once she'd explained her own plan of attack, the success of their mission barely saving either from the High Council's wrath. Not when the death toll grew, and the numbers of troops at their command swelled enormously, until both held the lives of hundred of thousands in their hands.

Not when they'd both been made Commanders in the final years of the Time War, two of five individuals who each held one fifth of Gallifrey's entire fighting force under their control.

Being so high up in the military meant that he never really saw her. Not like those under her command that she lived and breathed with. It was all computerised messages, digital conferences with others, there simply weren't enough high-ranking soldiers still alive to be able to afford them meeting in person in fear that one attack might wipe them all out at once.

So he hadn't really seen her very much. Not really. Nothing approaching the amount he found himself wanting to, desperately.

The day he ended it all, used The Moment to lock Gallifrey away…it had been Jana's face that had been the last he thought of.

Not his estranged wife.

Not his parents.

Not his men.

Not even his children.

The thought of _her _trapped in that horror, forever, had done more damage to his soul than he liked to think about.

And it had been pure hell racing through Starship UK, trying to make his brain work, to find out what was going on, and then find a solution, than he knew he had any right to feel.

But that hadn't stopped him.

Almost the moment Amy and he had stepped back into the TARDIS - the ship's physic abilities assuring him that Jana hadn't woken in his absence, a feeling of impatience drifting off the ship at this information - the phone had rung.

It hadn't been difficult to convince Amy that they'd answer Churchill's call once she'd had a night's rest. The human had been dead tired. But it took everything he had to remain in the console room, fixing little bits and pieces around the TARDIS as he waited for Amy to fall asleep, waiting for the box to let him know that he could more.

And then he felt it.

He was out the room and striding down the corridor in moments, entering the med-bay with quick steps.

Lying, unchanged, strapped to the bed, was Jana.

Hands moving fast, the Doctor wasted no time undoing the bands holding her down, flicking back the straps with an urgency unlike his usual behaviour, but he couldn't stand the thought of her waking only to discover herself bound to the bed.

As soon as she was free, the Doctor finally rested his shaking hands against the bed's rails, taking a moment to slow his breathing, the first real moment he'd had since before he'd regenerated.

She should have woken up by now. She shouldn't have fallen unconscious to begin with! And he'd be damned before he let any more time continue on before he discovered the reason for her unresponsive state.

Face tight, he strode towards the machines on the other side of the bed, his sonic screwdriver having them on and already running the necessary tests by the time he'd rounded the single medical bay.

He didn't have to wait long.

With a beep, the machine stopped whirling, the screen flickering to life as the complicated results began flashing across the display, the Doctor's frighteningly focused gaze decoding the information with remarkable swiftness.

"A coma," He breathed, shooting the unconscious woman a look of dread.

The gateway, it had zapped her entire body of energy, so much energy, in fact, that the fact that she was even alive was lucky. Already, he could see the reserves of her body slowly building, but it would take time.

Scrubbing his face with his hands, he closed his eyes, nodding to himself.

She was fine.

Yes, she was in a coma, but it was natural. Their people often entered self-induced comas when the subconscious considered them necessary for survival.

He'd just have to be patient.

Settling down on the bed just across from her, the Doctor didn't even try to pry his eyes from Jana's relaxed face, the smallest smile quirking up the left side of his mouth.

He could wait.

As impatient a creature as he was, he could wait.

For her.

…

_Please Review! I'd love to know what you think!_


	4. Chapter 3

Declaimer: I do not own Doctor Who

"Party's over, Doctor Song. Yet still you're on board."

The Doctor watched the monitor closely, unwanted curiousity growing inside of him as he glimpsed the human woman he'd met only once before – in The Library.

"Sorry, Alistair," River smirked, the black satin of her long gown swaying as she turned on her heel. "I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something, this ship won't reach its destination."

"Wait till she runs," The Doctor watched as the man in the tuxedo sneered, raising an eyebrow at the plain dislike in his eyes, "don't make it look like an execution."

His spine straightened at those words.

"Slash three, four, nine by ten, zero, twelve slash acorn," River rambled off suddenly, making his eyes widen as he shot around the console, beginning to flick switches and press countless different buttons. "Oh," The blonde smirked, "and I could do with an air corridor."

Of course she could.

"What was that? What did she say?" Amy squawked from the other side of the console, trying to make eye contact with him.

"Co-ordinates," The Doctor answered with a dramatic flourish, pulling a lever.

"Like I said on the dance floor," The recording continued, "you might want to find something to hang on to." And with that, River Song blew a kiss as the airlock opened behind her, sucking her out into space.

"Whoo!" He laughed, leaping down the steps and sprinting towards the TARDIS doors, pulling them open.

The minimal weight of the human woman felt like a sledge hammer as the force of her collision drove them both backwards, River falling on top of him.

"Doctor?" Amy called sharply, an almost annoyed tone in her voice.

"River?" He asked, his nose twitching as her blonde, frizzy hair passed in front of his nose as she leapt to her feet.

"Follow that ship!" She instructed, pointing after the departing space-liner.

Rolling his eyes, the Doctor climbed to his feet, glaring at the woman as she promptly ran up to his console and began hitting all kinds of instruments, her actions too confident and familiar for him to feel at ease with her presence.

"They've gone into warp drive," She called out, shooting him a frustrated look as he bound up to her side, sweeping her hands aside so he could continue navigating the TARDIS as she had been doing a second earlier, "we're loosing them! Stay close!"

Mouth dropping at the impudent way Dr Song exasperatedly swept to his other side, beginning, once again, to take over the controls, he quickly reached out to slam down the big button right at the top he'd seen her heading for, supressing his pleased smile when he saw her roll her eyes at his childish action.

"I'm trying."

"Use the stabilisers," She told him, already busy with the countless controls she was operating.

"There aren't any stabilisers," He countered quickly, happily doing his own thing as he always did.

They always got there in the end when he piloted, didn't they?

"The blue switches," River indicated with an exasperated nod of her head.

"Oh, the blue ones don't do anything," The Doctor shook his head, unable to decide whether he was more annoyed at the woman's seeming ability to pilot his TARDIS, or reluctantly impressed, "they're just blue."

"Yes, they're blue!" She said loudly, unapologetically reaching over him to press those very switches she'd nodded at moments before, "They're blue _stabilisers_!"

As soon as Doctor Song pressed them, the TARDIS settled, and she turned to him with a wide grin.

"See?" The remark was cheeky, as was the look in her eyes, and he felt just the smallest stirring of irritation.

"Yeah, well," He searched for an excuse to justify his lack of gratitude, knowing it he was practically sulking, "it's just boring now, isn't it? They're boring-ers. They're blue boring-ers."

"Doctor," Amy skipped to his side, grinning ear to ear, "how come she can fly the TARDIS?"

"You call that flying the TARDIS? Ha!"

"Okay," Ignoring his juvenile response, River turned the monitor towards her, unperturbed; "I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destinations, and…parked us right along side."

That got his attention.

"Parked us?" Leaping to his feet, the Doctor strode towards her. "We haven't landed."

"Of course we've landed," Her tone was so simple, so casual, he was momentarily lost for words. "I just landed her."

"But, it didn't make the noise."

River turned to give him a look, actually confused. "What noise?"

"You know," Shooting Amy a look, he quickly turned back to the blonde, frowning, "the," and proceeded to make the wheezing sound the TARDIS always made.

And with his impressive sound effects, if he did say so himself, a devious twinkle entered River's eyes and she smirked.

"It's not supposed to make that noise," She informed him happily, "You leave the breaks on."

Straitening up, practically able to feel Amy's threatening laughter at his back, the Doctor scowled.

"Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise. I love that noise," He stated loudly, turning on his heel. "Come along, Pond! Let's have a look."

"No, wait!" The protest from the console didn't slow him, "Environment checks."

"Oh yes, sorry. Quite right." Without warning, he yanked the TARDIS door open, sticking his head outside. "Nice out."

"We're somewhere in the Garn Belt. There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest that-"

"We're on Alfava Metraxis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System," He spoke over her, unable to stand the boredom of standing there listening to her list information he was already well aware of, "Oxygen rich atmosphere, all toxins in the soft band, eleven hour day, and…chances of rain later."

He watched as River leaned over to a sniggering Amy, speaking loudly enough for him to hear, "He thinks he's so hot when he does that."

Amy turned to the blonde, clearly intrigued. "How come you can fly the TARDIS?"

"Oh, I had lessons from the very best."

Crossing his arms, not even about to try to pretend that comment hadn't stroked his ego, the Doctor smiled, "Yeah, well."

"It's a shame you were busy that day," River continued on, pretending she didn't see the comical way his face fell. "Right then, why did they land here?"

And with that comment, most of his good humour drained away.

"They didn't land."

"Sorry?" River frowned.

"You should've checked the Home Box," He tsked. "It crashed."

As soon as the blonde was on the other side of the doors, the Doctor was flinging them shut, sprinting up to the console with purpose.

"Explain," Amy stated flatly. "Who is that, and how did she do that museum thing?"

Avoiding eye-contact, he fiddled with one of the levers on the console. "It's a long story, and I don't even know most of it," He said shortly. "Off we go."

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving," He told her strongly. "She's got where she wants to go, let's go where we want to go."

"Are you basically running?" Amy scoffed, leaning her hip against the railing.

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Because she's the future," The Doctor said quickly, not liking the words even as he said them, "…My…future."

"Can you run away from that?" She asked, pressing.

Looking up, he frowned at her warningly, not willing to discuss the topic any longer.

"I can run away from anything I like. Time is not the boss of me."

But it seemed Amy's mind was already on other things.

"Hang on," She grinned coming around the console, "is that a planet out there?"

Looking up, he couldn't help the annoyed look from sweeping his face, "Yes, of course it's a planet."

The redhead smiled widely, eyes dancing. "You promised me a planet," She reminded him, pointing her fingers at him. "Five minutes?"

Battling against the good sense that was telling him he was better off flying away and his own increasing intrigue with Doctor Song, when Amy turned the full power of her pleading expression on him, the Doctor crumbled.

"Okay!" He conceded. "Five minutes."

"Yes!" Squealing, she raced to the door.

"But that's all," He called after her, feeling his shoulders already beginning to sag, "because I'm telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything!"

But Amy was already half-a-dozen paces ahead of him, scampering along the rocks in a bid to catch up to River.

Sighing, the Doctor removed his key from the breast pocket of his tweed jacket, pulling the doors shut and locking the TARDIS.

"Watch out for her, girl," He murmured lowly, knowing he didn't need to say her name for the ship to know whom he was speaking of.

There was only one 'her' he ever meant.

…

Darkness. It was so dark. So quiet.

Where was she?

As if the thought itself called others, her mind slowly began waking up, mindless drifting becoming more focused, more conscious.

What…What happened?

Where was she?

…

"But there was only one Angel on the ship," River's eyes seemed to plead with him to believe her. "Just the one, I swear."

"Could they have been here already?" Amy asked quickly, looking anxiously at the immobile statues surrounding them.

Scowling, the Doctor suddenly turned to River, stalking forward.

"The Aplans. What happened? How did they die out?" He demanded.

Shaking her head, the blonde could only shrug. "Nobody knows."

The air left his lungs. "We know," He murmured softly, his gaze returning to the reforming Angels around them.

"They don't look like Angels," Father Octavian denied, face carefully stoic.

"And they're not fast," Amy stepped up beside him, her tone almost hopeful now, "you said they were fast. They should have had us by now."

"Look at them," He stated, striding forward until he was staring an Angel straight on, never blinking. "They're dying, losing their form. They must have been down here for centuries, starving."

"Losing their image?" Amy deadpanned, clearly unsure whether what he was saying was reliable right now.

But his mind was already miles ahead, racing through scenario after scenario. "And their image is their power," He said slowly, thinking out loud. "Power. Power!"

"Doctor?"

"Don't you see?!" He cried, spinning back around to face his human company, seemingly the only one able to understand _just _how bad their situation really was. "All that radiation spilling out the drive burn. The crash of the Byzantium wasn't an accident. It was a rescue mission for the Angels!" He could see the horrible realisation beginning to dawn on their faces, but knew he didn't have time for the humans to work through the inevitable denial he knew would soon overtake them. "We're in the middle of an army," The truth in his voice was irrefutable, "and it's waking up."

…

"The statues are advancing along all corridors. And, sir, my torch keeps flickering."

Octavian threw a long, hard look around the cave, nodding at his men's words. "They all do," He observed quietly.

"So does the gravity globe," Doctor Song stated rigidly.

Closing his eyes at the unwelcome, but not all too surprising, news, the Doctor walked quickly into the cavernous area, making sure he could still hear Amy's hurried footsteps behind him.

"Clerics," Father Octavian called, firm, "we're down four men. Expect incoming."

"Yeah, it's the Angels," He told them swiftly, not willing to allow panic to freeze all common sense by allowing the humans to dwell on their approaching killers, "They're coming. And they're draining the power for themselves."

"Which means we won't be able to stay here."

"Which means we can't stay here," He spoke aloud; only half-noticing the annoyed look the Bishop shot him at his words.

"Two more incoming!"

River leaned forward, anxious. "Any suggestions?"

"The statues are advancing on all sides," Octavian called out, making the Doctor's hands clench into fists at the superfluous, very not helpful, information. "We don't have the climbing equipment to reach the Byzantium."

Why did humans _insist _on _always _pointing out the obvious? He knew they didn't have climbing equipment! He'd already thought of that idea and discarded it as a possibility five minutes ago! He needed to _think_!

"There's no way up," River said, moving closer, "no way back. No way out. No pressure," She gave a helpless little laugh here, almost as if she knew she was being unfair but couldn't help it, "but this is usually when you have a really good idea."

"There's always a way out," He told them seriously, hiding his growing frustration as best he could.

"Doctor? Can I speak to the Doctor, please?"

The static of the radio was loud in the cave, and he was ripping the Bishop's radio from his suit before the humans even had a chance to debate the wisdom of answering and engaging the enemy pursuing them.

"Hello, Angles," He greeted jovially, eyes darting wildly about the cave as his mind raced, trying desperately to figure out a solution to the dead-end they'd run into, "What's your problem?"

All eyes were on him as the radio spluttered, the static clearing.

"Your power will not much last longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly," The voice of the young cleric the Angels were speaking through had his hand tightening around the radio, anger sparking. "I'm sorry, sir."

He spun, pacing across the dusty ground, needing to keep moving, to do something, to keep thinking of a way out of this!

"Why are you telling me this?" The Doctor demanded, unable to keep the anger from his voice any longer.

He despised games.

"There's something the Angels are very keen you should know before the end."

"Which is?" He shot back, the beginnings of an idea dragging his attention away from the conversation.

"I died in fear."

He frowned. "I'm sorry?"

"You told me my fear would keep me alive, but I died afraid, in pain and alone. You made me trust you, and when it mattered, you let me down."

"What are they doing?" He heard Amy whisper behind him, but he couldn't bring himself to turn around.

River's solemn voice was her only answer; "They're trying to make him angry."

"I'm sorry, sir," Angel Bob continued, still using that horribly young, innocent voice of the cleric they'd murdered, "The Angels were very keen for you to know that."

A low, short chuckle left his lips.

"Well then," He spoke quietly, voice intense, "the Angels have made their second mistake because I'm not going to let that pass. I'm sorry you're dead, Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier," He promised furiously.

He wasn't expecting the answer he received.

"The Angels believe that it is you who shall be sorry by the end of the day, sir," Angel Bob continued, as if oblivious to the very real threat in the Doctor's words. "Your TARDIS, Doctor, the Angels know what you have hidden inside."

His hearts froze.

"…Doctor?" River frowned, worried.

"Don't you-!" Ruthlessly, the Doctor forced his jaw shut, forced his mind to start working again, to push aside the very real fear that had flared to life at the Angles' words. "You haven't the power to threaten my TARDIS," He hissed furiously into the radio, all effort to control his anger gone with the vocalisation of their new threat. "You've been down here for centuries, _starving_. Do you really think me so naïve, so _stupid_; as to believe you have the power to carry out your threat? Don't make me _laugh_," The dark, dangerous words seemed to hang in the air, even giving the Angels pause.

"You're trapped sir," Angel Bob eventually replied, "and about to die."

"Yeah. I'm trapped," He smirked darkly, eyes narrowed on the approaching statues. "But you know what? Speaking of traps, this trap has got a great big mistake in it. A great, big, whopping mistake," With effort, he recalled his rage, forcing it down, seeing the evidence of the humans' unease on the faces surrounding him.

"What mistake, sir?"

Swallowing, he turned to Amy. "Trust me?"

"Yeah," She smiled shakily.

He nodded, turning to River.

"Trust me?"

"Always," There was no hesitation in her answer, no lie, but he could see the concerned confusion informing every crease in her brow as she watched him closely.

And that surprised him.

It was almost as if…she didn't know_._ Didn't know what the Angels threat had been about. Why he'd reacted so violently to it. But how? Surely, if she was, indeed, from his future, if she was as entwined with his life as her comments had led he and countless others to conclude…surely, she'd know about the woman currently lying, trapped in a coma, within his TARDIS?

…Why didn't she know?

"You lot, trust me?" Turning to the clerics, determinedly pushing aside the riddle for another time, he watched as Octavian and the other men exchanged glances, fingers clenching and unclenching around their guns.

"Sir, two more incoming!"

Octavian's gaze locked with his. "We have faith, sir."

He smiled. "Then give me your gun," He instructed, hand outstretched. "I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do…jump."

…

Small, tiny prods at her mind, a confusing annoyance amidst the dark blackness that surrounded her, suddenly morphed into urgent jabs, pulling her from the darkness.

It was hard.

It was so hard to swim upwards, to find the energy, the drive, to want to reach the surface of the black abyss.

But whatever power nudged at her mind, growing steadily more demanding, more concerned, allowed her no rest. Insisting she comply. Insisting she awaken.

Sound broke like a dam around her ears, and suddenly, Jana's eyes were open.

With a cry, she slammed them closed, the unexpected lights piercing like knifes through her retina's, burning.

But she was awake.

And it hurt.

…

_PLEASE review! I would LOVE any feedback I could get!_


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who

…

Groaning, Jana forced her eyes to open, squinting against the glare of light as she fruitlessly attempted to allow her retinas the time they needed to adjust.

It hurt.

Gods, did it hurt.

But, eventually, water streaming from burning eyes, the light gradually lost its unbearable brightness, dimming.

What the hell was wrong with her?

The thought was loud in her head, its sentiment suspicious, but Jana couldn't help herself. You didn't live through nearly two centuries of War, a war with no end in sight, a war that only kept exceeding its own heights of brutality and devastation…and not have it change you.

Too many times, she'd woken up in a medical bed, no idea where she was, no idea how or who had got her there.

And she was sick of it.

Releasing a shuddering breath, Jana, for the countless time, pushed down the feelings that always threatened to overwhelm her. Forced the vulnerability, the weakness away. She couldn't afford to falter. She wouldn't.

There were too many people counting on her.

With indescribable effort, Jana wrenched her body upright, almost piercing her lip at the horrible pain the wracked through her system.

What in God's name had happened to her?

Every nerve ending felt like it was on fire!

It was at that moment, when she was leaning over the side of the single, pristine, white bed, that she felt it.

A brief, warm touch against her battered mind.

Comfort.

Her neck snapped up.

Crying out, the muscles in her neck fiercely protesting the sudden movement, Jana had to consciously work to slow her hearts, the thunderous pounding against her ribcage only succeeding in contributing to the unimaginable _aching _that seemed to have settled into every bone, every ligament, every muscle fibre with a vengeance.

But she'd long ago learnt to deal with extreme pain.

You didn't last long in the sky trenches unless you were capable of running with a gruesome Dalek-induced injury to your body.

Because she recognised that touch. That all too familiar mental brush.

And it brought tears to her eyes.

A TARDIS.

She was in a TARDIS!

When she moved her neck this time, Jana forced herself to move slowly, determined not to prolong the moment until she looked upon the TARDIS walls she now knew surrounded her, for any longer than absolutely necessary.

"Oh," The reverential sound left her lips shakily, hazel eyes impossibly bright as she looked upon the first TARDIS she'd seen in over one hundred years. "Oh…you _beautiful _thing," She breathed, happy tears coursing unbidden down her cheeks. "You precious, darling, impossible, beautiful thing!" Jana laughed brokenly.

…

"Okay, men. Go, go, go!" Octavian shouted. "The Angels. Presumably they can jump up too?"

The hatch closed loudly.

"They're here," The Doctor said, "now. In the dark, we're finished."

He watched as the bulkhead at the end of the ship corridor started to close, whirling around.

"Run!"

"This whole place is a death trap!" Octavian declared angrily, beyond worried for his men's safety.

Before they could slip through the door, it closed, the resounding lock loud in the sudden silence.

The Doctor breathed out slowly, trying to calm himself.

"No," He refuted, "it's a time bomb. Well," Spinning in place, mentally screaming at his mind to hurry up and think of something, "it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic." Seeing the relatively confident faces staring back at him, he almost screamed. "Oh, just me then…" Why was it always up to him?! "What's through there?"

"Secondary flight deck," River stepped up quickly, as if sensing how worried he was.

"Okay, so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah?" He didn't know whether to be relieved that at least someone understood just how dire their situation was, or even more frustrated, knowing he didn't have time to waste on calming terrified humans right now. "So what if the gravity fails?" Amy pressed, looking at him expectantly, her fear obvious.

"I've thought of that."

"And?" She asked hopefully.

"And we'll all plunge to our deaths," He rushed through the words, unrealistically hoping that if he spoke it quickly enough, his female companion wouldn't catch his less than comforting response. "See? I've thought about it." Swinging the sonic at the metal hatch, he quickly read the results, mind flying. "The security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them. It's impossible."

"How impossible?" River immediately demanded, shooting him an almost fond look of expectation.

He couldn't help the little grin that tugged at his lips.

Seems the woman did, indeed, know him.

"Two minutes."

"The hull is breached and the power's failing." Just as Father Octavian said this, the lights suddenly died, plunging them into all too dangerous darkness.

Hearts jumping to his throat, the Doctor frantically began trying to override the systems, knowing that for every second the lights were down, they were beyond help.

"Sir! Incoming!"

"Doctor?" Amy's shaky voice, incredibly, sped his movements, "Lights."

Behind him, he could hear the Angels moving, their stone bodies scraping against the metal floor of the ship.

"Clerics, keep watching them," Octavian ordered, the flickering lights only adding to the choking feeling of fear in the air.

"And don't look at their eyes!" The Doctor shouted, still frantically working. "Anywhere else. Not the eyes!" The lights suddenly beamed back into existence, revealing the terrifying sight of four Weeping Angels frozen in front of them, poised to attack. "I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now," He said quickly, eyes darting between the stone figures opposite them.

"Good work, Doctor," Octavian congratulated, voice sombre but still undoubtedly sincere.

"Yes," He announced, springing to his feet. "Good, good, good. Good in many ways, good you like it so far."

"So far?" The suspicion in Amy's voice couldn't have mattered less, not now.

Not when the universe's most efficient predator was standing opposite them and his mind had only come to one workable solution.

"Well, there's only one way to open this door. I guess I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control."

"Good. Fine. Do it," Octavian ordered brusquely, eyes never leaving the Angels.

He took a deep breath. "Including the lights." River and Amy's eyes turned to him, aghast. "All of them. I'll need to turn out the lights."

"…How long for?" The Bishop asked stiffly.

"Fraction of a second," He answered swiftly, voice rushed as he paced forward, through the clerics, towards the Angels. "Maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer."

"Maybe?" The question was a growl.

"I'm guessing!" He shot back acidly, the heavy weight of every human life on this ship pushing on his hearts. "We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship. There isn't a manual for this."

"Doctor, we lost the torches," Amy broke in, as if he'd only forgotten this all-important fact. "We'll be in total darkness."

"No other choice," He told her strongly. It wasn't her opinion that mattered right now. "Bishop?"

A beat of silence thrummed through the air.

"Doctor Song," Octavian called, "I've lost good clerics today. You trust this man?"

Despite the situation, the Doctor found himself turning to River, curious about her answer.

"I absolutely trust him," No hesitation coloured the blonde's words, her eyes flat, serious.

"He's not some kind of madman, then?"

This time, River paused. "I absolutely trust him."

"Excuse me."

From the corner of his eye, he watched the Bishop step up to River, leaning down to speak softly to her, words obscured. Still, he didn't miss the flash of hostility from the blonde archaeologist as she looked back at the cleric, nor the warning threat in Octavian's eyes.

Interesting.

"Okay, Doctor," The Bishop announced, turning back to face him, "We've got your back."

…

Staggering down the TARDIS hallway, using the wall for balance, Jana watched carefully for any betraying movement, frustrated, and not to mention increasingly concerned, the longer it took for the ship's pilot to show themselves.

"Where are they, girl?" She murmured aloud, unable to keep the affection from her eyes every time she focused back on the TARDIS. "I know you must have told them I'm awake."

Well, _tell_ was a little bit of a stretch. TARDIS's couldn't speak to their pilots, such concrete ideas of time as to focus on one time stream, one time period, was far too primitive for the vastly complicated sentient machines. No, at most, the TARDIS consciousness could give their pilots _feelings. _Impressions. In her case, perhaps the idea of a bedroom followed by the memory of a smell their Time Lord or Lady would associate with the ship's med-bay.

But the ability was primitive at best. And confused both TARDIS and pilot enough that most ships refrained entirely. But something told her that this old girl was different.

Special.

After all, she'd never heard of a TARDIS reaching out to any individual, even as primitively as they were able in dire circumstances, that wasn't their pilot.

Yes. This old girl was special.

She could tell.

Which was why she'd fully expected it's pilot to come barging down the corridor long before now. But there was nothing.

Just silence.

Still, at least one good thing came of her evidently futile quest to find whoever's TARDIS she was currently aboard. The aching hell in her limbs was beginning to loosen. Slowly, yes. But the small relief was incredible.

…

"Doctor, quickly!" River shouted loudly, just beyond the door.

"Doctor!" Amy screeched.

Any other time, he would have rolled his eyes, but something about the Weeping Angels had always wiped all humour from his heart.

Dodging inside the door at the last possible second, the metal hatch slammed shut behind him, locking.

He didn't slow.

Racing for the controls, he glanced over his shoulder as he saw Octavian move to magnetise the door.

"Nothing could turn that wheel now," The Bishop sighed, relieved.

He raised an eyebrow, turning back to the controls. "Yeah?"

The metal wheel slowly began to turn.

"Dear God!"

"Ah," He laughed once, without humour, "now you're getting it. You've bought us time though," Giving the human an acknowledging nod, he continued, "that's good. I am good with time.

"Doctor!" Amy called urgently, watching the second door begin to open.

A cleric was quick to magnetise the metal hatch. Slowing the Angels progress.

"Seal it!" Octavian shouted, pointing towards the other doors that began spinning open. "Seal that door! Doctor," He abruptly turned to face him, "how long have we got?"

"Five minutes," He shrugged. "Max."

"Nine," Amy spoke, making him frown.

"Five," The Doctor correctly, fingers flying across the controls.

"Five, right, yeah," Amy nodded, giving him a bizarre look as if to say, 'I know. Why are you saying it again?'

"Why'd you say nine?" He demanded.

"I didn't."

Before he could reply, River interrupted.

"We need another way out of here."

"There isn't one," Octavian muttered, shaking his head.

"Yeah, there is!" He announced jovially, leaping forwards. "Course there is. This is a galaxy class ship. Goes for years between planet falls. So, what do they need?"

"Of course," River breathed, a sparkle of hope now in her eyes.

"Of course what?" Amy snapped, annoyed. "What do they need?"

"Can we get in there?" The Bishop asked, purposefully ignoring the redhead.

"Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow." Running his hands along the smooth metal, his fingers froze as he felt a weak push at his mental shields, but the sound of the slow but steady movement of the door wheels continuing to unlock quickly pushed the thought from of his mind, and his fingers hurriedly continued their quest. "This whole wall should slide up. There's clamps! Release the clamps!"

"What's through there? What do they do?" Amy wanted to know.

River grinned, "They need to breathe."

"But's that…that's a…" Amy stuttered as she watched the metal flight deck slide up, revealing a large forest within.

"It's an oxygen factory."

"It's a forest," His companion laughed, shaking her head with amazement.

"Yeah, it's a forest," River chuckled, but a quick glance at the doors over her shoulder told him she'd far from forgotten the danger nipping at their heels. "It's an oxygen factory."

"And," The Doctor declared, moving swiftly to the edge of the door, "if we're lucky," He grinned, "an escape route."

Amy matched his grin. "Eight."

River whirled.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," Amy shook her head.

Eyes narrowed, He deliberately turned back to the Bishop. "Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there."

"On it," Octavian acknowledged, moving into the forest. "Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels."

"But trees?" Amy was still smiling. "On a spaceship!"

"Oh, more that trees," He smirked, delighting in her innocent wonder, "way better than trees. You're going to love this." Jerking open the bark, he laughed at the circuitry inside, looking up at Amy through hooded eyes. "Treeborgs. Trees plus technology. Branches become cables, become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There's a whole mini-climate. This vault is an ecopod running through the heart of the ship." Stalking towards the awed redhead, the Doctor pierced her with hungry eyes, witnessing her incredulity, her wonderment, and taking it as his own.

_This _was why he took companions. _This _was why he took the time, even in as dangerous a situation as they were in right now, to explain what they were seeing.

He was so old. Had seen so much, run so far…sometimes, he lost the ability to see the true beauty around him.

But humans never did.

They lived such short lives, you seen, every emotion was felt fully, every experience lived to its entirety.

They were utterly unlike any other species he'd ever come across.

He really wouldn't ever get done saving them.

"A forest in a bottle, on a space ship, in a maze…Have I impressed you yet, Amy Pond?" He asked quietly, now right in front of her, and he could tell, when she looked up at him with those deep brown eyes, he had.

"Seven."

All brightness abruptly dimmed at the appearance of another number, his brows drawing down.

"Seven?"

"Sorry, what?"

"You said seven," He told her, stepping even closer.

"No, I didn't," Amy giggled nervously, her eyes flashing down to his very close chest before darting back up to his eyes, her cheeks now tinged red.

He ignored the slip, already well aware of Amy's attraction for him.

"Yes, you did."

"Doctor," Octavian called, "there's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck."

"Oh, good," Dismissing Amy for the time being, the mystery of her countdown still ticking away in the back of his mind, he caught the Bishop's gaze. "That's where we need to go."

"Plotting a safe path now."

"Quick as you like."

"Doctor?" The now familiar static of the radio broke through the flight deck, drawing everyone's attention. "Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir."

Throwing himself into the captain's chair, he flicked the switch on the radio, raising it to his mouth. "Ah, there you are Angel Bob, how's life?" Not a lick of guilt stopped the provoking words from escaping him. "Sorry, bad subject."

"The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve."

"Achieve?" He swung the chair around, spinning, "We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?"

His eyes flashed up as he felt another push at his mind, this one more insistent.

What was-?

"The Angels are feasting, sir," Angel Bob's voice cut through his thoughts, thoroughly distracting him. "Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world, and all the stars and worlds beyond."

"Yeah, well, we've got comfy chairs. Did I mention?"

"We have no need of comfy chairs."

"I made him say comfy chairs," Chortling, not even trying to deny the childish thrill that shot through him, the Doctor grinned manically at his human companion, eyes dancing with humour.

"Six," Amy grinned back.

All smiles were abruptly wiped from his face.

Leaping to his feet, he clutched the radio tighter.

"Okay, Bob, enough chat," He declared. "Here's what I want to know. What have you done to Amy?"

"There is something in her eye," The stolen cleric's voice, answered.

"What's in her eye?"

"…We are."

Amy visibly swallowed. "What's he talking about? Doctor, I'm five. I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine."

"You're counting," River broke in, brow wrinkled with concern.

"Counting?" Amy shot back.

"You're counting down from ten," He explained quickly, searching her eyes with his. "You have been for a couple of minutes."

"Why?" She asked shakily, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I don't know," He admitted slowly, knowing it wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"We shall take her," Angel Bob spoke through the radio. "We shall take all of you. Including, Doctor, what you have so jealously hidden away inside your TARDIS."

Like a flash across his mind, the Doctor suddenly realised what the push against his mind had been. The soft, insistent warning he'd have long ago realised the origin of if he hadn't been grappling with the impossible, inconceivable danger of actually being trapped _within_, and then _chased_, by an _army _of awakening Weeping Angels!

The TARDIS had been trying to contact him!

One of only a handful of times in his living memory, the ship was telepathically reaching out to him, desperate to warn her pilot of the danger she was facing.

And he knew, with every fibre of his being, he _knew_, the loyal ship wouldn't have been contacting him even now, even with countless Angels seeking to feed off her Vortex energy, but for the passenger she currently housed within her.

A passenger precious to them both.

Jana.

…

_I'd love to hear what you thought! ;D_


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who

…

Trying to rein in his anger was hard. Harder than he thought it would be.

"Doctor," River's strange tone, despite the situation, had his gaze shooting up, connecting with hers. "What are the Angels talking about?" She asked seriously.

…He turned away from her.

Raising the radio to his mouth, he closed his eyes. "You go anywhere near her," He promised, "you will regret it," Despite the softness of his voice, the threat contained within was absolute, dark.

"Pardon me, sir," Angel Bob countered, the polite cadence of the stolen cleric's voice doing nothing to assist him in controlling his emotions, "But the Angels wish to know what you intend to do to stop them from reaching your TARDIS? Your way back is blocked. Every step you take to escape us is a step further from being able to halt the Angels progress towards your TARDIS."

The horrible reality of those words seemed to ring in the air, turning everything dark.

And he couldn't help his next words.

"I promise you," He growled into the receiver, "However impossible, however seemingly hopeless my situation is…if you do this, if you attack my ship…I will wipe you from the fabric of space itself. If you harm her…" The words wouldn't come, his teeth so tightly clenched, his rage so hot, but he meant it.

He may not like thinking about what he was capable of, but the Doctor knew…if the Angels did this, ripped the last member of his kind from him, _just _when he'd found her, when she was unconscious, helpless! There was no power in this universe that would be able to stop him.

And that killed him.

"We shall have dominion over all space and time," Angel Bob continued after a long pause. "There's more power on this ship than you yet understand, Doctor."

Loud, ear splitting screeching suddenly erupted around them.

"What's that?" River breathed, eyes full of dread. "Dear God, what is it?"

"They're back," Octavian said.

"It's hard to put in your terms, Doctor Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing."

"Laughing?" He said sharply.

"Because you haven't noticed yet, sir. The Doctor in the TARDIS hasn't noticed."

"Doctor."

Dragging his eyes away from the still closed metal doors, he began turning towards the Bishop, becoming more and more agitated the longer he had to listen to the Angel's horrible laughter.

"There's something I've missed," He muttered angrily to himself, unable and unwilling to concentrate on the Bishop until he'd figured this out.

Without warning, a crack suddenly split the wall above the bulkhead, pure white light streaming forth as it slowly widened.

"That's, that's-" Amy tried to speak past her own horror, "that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl!"

"Yes," He nodded slowly, mind racing. "Two parts of space and time that should never have touched."

Octavian suddenly strode forward. "Okay, enough! We're moving out."

"Agreed," River nodded eagerly, "Doctor?"

"Yeah, fine," He waved them away, striding quickly towards the crack, far more interested in it than the humans at his back.

"What are you doing?"

"Right with you," He frowned, not even knowing who he was speaking to now, far too engrossed in what was before him.

"We're not leaving without you!"

That got his attention.

"Oh, yes, you are," He snapped, turning. "Bishop?"

"Miss Pond," Octavian gestured urgently, a scowl on his face, "Doctor Song. Now!"

"Doctor?" Amy called shakily.

"Come on!" River shouted.

"So, what are you?" The drama behind him long forgotten as he read the readings on his sonic, gazing wide-eyed at the crack, "Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good."

Spinning, poised to leap, the Doctor stopped short at the horrifying sight of dozens of Weeping Angels surrounding him, blocking any chance of escape.

"Do not blink," He murmured to himself.

Harsh force suddenly jerked him back by the collar, forcing all air from his lungs.

…

Struggling down the corridor, Jana frowned when she felt the TARDIS once again brush against her mind. She'd noticed, since waking, that the ship had been almost…prodding her forward. Just as she'd only realised after the fact that it was the ship's consciousness that had woken her from her unconscious state.

It was as those soft brushes of mind against mind continued to increase in frequency and…urgency…that her pace increased, ignoring the resulting shoots of pain from her weak limbs.

Something was wrong. Seriously wrong if a TARDIS was reaching out to someone that wasn't its pilot for help.

And where the hell was its pilot?!

Turning a corner, Jana startled at the sight of a bright, warm-gold console room below her, a soft smirk spreading across her lips.

"Bingo," She whispered.

Hurrying down the stairs, the TARDIS urging her on quicker, she almost blanched at the sight of decidedly…antique controls.

"How the hell am I su…?" She trailed off, aghast as she eyed the multitude of unfamiliar switches and levers.

Just how old _was_ this TARDIS?!

Buzzing filled the room, almost angry, and Jana found herself smiling sheepishly at the ceiling, knowing that the ship was more than capable of reading her less than impressed expression on sight of the console.

"Right," She said to herself, taking a ginger step forward, "There's obviously something wrong, but," Fiddling with a lever she finally figured out was a very out-dated version of the instrument used to determine engine status, she shook her head, "there doesn't seem to be anything-"

A giant lurch suddenly threw her sideways, ribs banging harshly against the metal railings encircling the console as the ship unexpectedly, and without warning, tilted.

"What in Gods name w-!"

Once again, her words were abruptly cut off as she was flung to the other side of the console, only quick thinking stopping her from flipping over the railings entirely.

"Monitor!" She yelped, wincing as her elbow got caught, wrenching forward unpleasantly, "I need the monitor!"

And like the miraculous being it was, she caught sight of the old-fashioned television screen flickering to life off to the side, giving her vision of what was going on outside the TARDIS walls.

"Thanks, girl," She grinned, pulling herself over to the screen with as much grace as one could manage in an unceasingly trembling TARDIS.

What she saw on the monitor stopped her heart.

Surrounding the ship on all sides was dozens of stone statues.

Weeping Angels.

Grinning into the monitor.

…

It was too quiet. Far too quiet.

Almost…silent.

And stuck in a forest in the middle of a dying space-liner, thousands of recovering Angels at their backs, wasn't helping that feeling!

A short, small cry from behind her had River spinning, eyes widening at the sight of Amy, bent over at the knees, gasping.

"Amy, what's wrong?"

"Four," The redhead murmured tiredly, staggering unsteadily.

"Med-scanner, now!" She ordered sharply, throwing out her hand in demand as she watched her Mother collapse on a tree trunk, her heart thundering in her chest at the sight of Amy moving to lay on the mossy undergrowth, face unnaturally pale.

"Doctor Song," The Bishop's warning tone was clear, "we can't stay here. We've got to keep moving."

"We wait for the Doctor," River glared, ripping the med-scanner out of a cleric's hands, rushing forward.

"Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralise the Angels. Until that is achieved-"

"Father Octavian," She cut in, fed-up, "when the Doctor's in the room, your one and only mission is to keep him alive long enough to get everyone else home. And trust me, it's not easy. Now, if he's dead back there," The thought sent ice rushing through her veins, "I'll never forgive myself. And if he's alive, I'll never forgive him, and…" A loud sigh left her, half relived, half exasperated, "Doctor, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?"

"Oh yeah," The familiar cadence of the Doctor's voice pulled a grin to her lips, and she turned to watch his fast approach, inordinately happy to see him.

"I hate you."

"You don't," He countered quickly, almost absently. "Bishop, the Angels are in the forest."

Octavian nodded once, already spouting orders to his men. "We need visual contact on every line of approach!"

"How did you get past them?" River whispered as the Doctor crouched down beside her, already focused on Amy's lying down figure.

"I found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe," He shrugged, taking the scanner from her hands.

"What was it?" Amy croaked.

"The end of the universe," The Doctor stated, as if his words were nothing to worry about. "Lets have a look, then."

Amy was patient for all of a moment.

"So, what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing," She was quick to reassure, taking her Mother's hand in her own. "You're fine."

"Everything. You're dying."

Head snapping round at the Doctor's no-nonsense tone, appalled, River couldn't stop her screech of protest.

"Doctor!"

And suddenly, dark green eyes were piercing hers, robbing her of breath.

"Yes, you're right," He snapped, sarcasm thick. "If we lie to her, she'll get all better! Right. Amy, Amy, Amy. What's the matter with Amelia? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?"

"Doctor," Amy sniffled.

"Busy."

"Scared!"

"Course you're scared," The Doctor barked, annoyed, "you're dying. Shut up."

"Okay," River breathed, rubbing her forehead, knowing she needed to calm the situation, "let him think."

"What happened," The Doctor continued, as if he hadn't even heard her, "She stared at the Angel. She looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long."

"Sir! Angel incoming!"

"And here."

"Keep visual contact!" Octavian shouted, stiff, "Do not let it move!"

"Come on, come on, come on!" River watched the Doctor pace with wide eyes, concerned by the truly frantic nature of his movements. "Wakey, wakey. She watched an Angel climb out of the screen, she stared at the Angel, and, and…"

This wasn't right, her mind whispered.

She'd seen the Doctor worried. She'd seen him angry, scared, furious and horrified. But this was different. Even as bad as their situation was…she knew him well enough to know that he shouldn't be this upset. Shouldn't be this distracted.

Because he was.

He was distracted.

She could see it in his face, the Doctor was trying to force his mind to focus on Amy, on her slowing heartbeat, but something was dragging his attention away.

And that wasn't like him.

With a stone in her stomach, River's mind recalled the Angels' strange threat. They'd talked of the TARDIS, of destroying his ship. And she knew he loved that machine, she knew exactly how much that tiny blue box meant to him – the last relic of his people – but even with the threat against the TARDIS…he shouldn't be this distracted. Amy meant a lot to him, she knew that with everything that she was. And yet…the conflicted turmoil painted across his face just didn't add up!

"The image of an Angel is an Angel," Amy's soft words ripped her from her thoughts, plunging her back into the present.

"A living mental image in a living human mind," The Doctor nodded, pacing. "But we stare at them to stop them getting closer. We don't blink, and that is exactly what they want." He stopped, voice taking on that tone it always adopted when he figured something out. Something beyond the rest of humanity. "Because as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's an Angel in her mind!"

"Three," Amy whispered, crying now. "Doctor, it's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die."

"Please, just shut up. I'm thinking."

River could see the effort it took him not to shout, frustration near pouring off him, and turned back to Amy.

"Now, counting. What's that about? Bob?" He spoke into the radio. "Why are they making her count?"

"To make her afraid, sir."

She swallowed.

"Okay, but why? What for?"

"For fun, sir," Angel Bob replied.

Fury contorted the Doctor's face and he abruptly launched the communicator into the air, heaving with effort.

"Doctor, what's happening to me?" Amy demanded, truly frightened now. "Explain."

River watched as the Doctor took a moment to compose himself, crouching down beside his companion.

"Inside your head, in the vision centres of your brain, there's an Angel. It's like there's a screen, a virtual screen inside your mind and the Angel is climbing out of it, and it's coming to shut you off."

"Then what do I do?"

"If it was a real screen, what would we do?" He looked at her then, almost looking _through _her. "We'd pull the plug. We'd kill the power. But we can't just knock her out, the Angel would just take over."

"Then what?" River demanded hotly, "Quickly!"

"We've got to shut down the vision centres of her brain. We've got to pull the plug. Starve the Angel."

"Doctor," She shook her head, "she's got seconds!"

But he wasn't listening to her anymore; mind racing at a speed she could never hope to match.

"How would you starve your lungs?"

"I'd stop breathing!" She answered with the first words that came to mind, watching the heartbeat monitor on the scanner slowing with barely contained horror.

This wasn't possible! Amy did not die here!

But it seemed her answer was the last piece of the puzzle the Doctor needed.

"Amy, close your eyes," He ordered.

"No," The redhead shook her head, squeezing her body into a tighter ball. "No, I don't want to."

"Good!" The Doctor gasped, pushing Amy's hair back with his palms, cupping her face. "Because that's not you, that's the Angel inside of you. It's afraid," He told her strongly, giving her no choice but to listen. "Do it. Close your eyes."

With one, last, tear-filled look, Amy clenched her eyes shut.

The med-scanner beeped in her hands, making River clutch it closer as she watched the red change to a healthy green, hardly daring to believe.

"She's normalising," She grinned, looking up at the Doctor. "Oh, you did it. You did it!"

By _God_, she loved this man.

"Sir?" One of the clerics called, "Two more incoming."

"Three more over here!"

She quickly checked the scanner, knowing it was important that they keep moving. The longer they stayed still, the more dangerous their situation became.

"Still weak," River told the Doctor, heart sinking. "Dangerous to move her."

"So, can I open my eyes now?" Amy asked hopefully.

The Doctor spun, alarmed. "Amy, listen to me. If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die. The Angel is still inside you. We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of paused it. You've used up you countdown. You cannot open your eyes."

"Doctor, we're too exposed here," Octavian warned, clearly itching to leave, "We have to move on."

"We're too exposed everywhere," The Doctor countered, scrubbing his face. "And Amy…can't…move…" He unexpectedly trailed off, hands falling limply to his sides. "No," The whispered denial, for all its softness, was loud in the sudden stillness. "No!" He growled, tugging furiously at his hair. "They wouldn't dare! They wouldn't-! Not _now_!"

"Doctor!" She stepped up quickly, hand outstretched in an instinctive effort to calm him, but the man only spun out of her reach, glaring blackly at the trees that surrounded them. "Doctor, what's wrong?!" River pressed, that same worry, that same…confusion…she'd felt before coming back full-force.

Just what had the Angels threatened him with to get this sort of reaction out of him?!

And, River swallowed hard, more importantly, why didn't she know about it?

…

"Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!" Jana cried, racing around the console in an effort to escape one of the very few beings in the Universe powerful enough to get through the defences of a TARDIS. "Lift, we need lift!"

Slamming her palm down onto a button, she almost sagged when she felt the ship begin to dematerialise.

But then the Angels grabbed hold.

Mouth hanging open, all lingering pain in her body forgotten, Jana felt like screaming when she saw the Angels form a ring of four around the TARDIS' exterior, interrupting the ship's mechanics, holding it still in time and space.

She growled.

Furious, Jana pulled herself around the console, glowering at the doors as if they were Angels themselves in her effort to reach the controls she needed to reach.

She'd never encountered the Weeping Angels before. Few had. Even fewer had survived such an encounter. But by God, she was _determined_ to be one of the few.

"Life-forms," She gasped, knowing the TARDIS was desperately trying to help her in any way she could, "I need to know if there are any life-forms in this planetary sector!"

The figure that blinked onto the screen beside her hand had the blood draining from her face.

_In excess of forty billion life-forms in this planetary sector._

…Great.

There went her idea of opening a black hole underneath the stone menaces.

"Okay, okay," She spoke to herself sternly, exerting considerable, experienced, mental control to calm her thoughts, to think, simultaneously rerouting more power to the shields, knowing from experience that she needed to think of something fast with how swiftly the Angels were draining the ship's power.

In the back of her mind, an idea began to form, taking shape.

It was reckless, dangerous, and highly susceptible to faults should conditions change, but…Jana knew what the Weeping Angels were capable of. They were ruthless, intelligent and incredibly powerful.

And they already had a lock on the TARDIS.

It was going to take something drastic to survive the horror waiting for her outside those doors.

Face grim, Jana began inputting the necessary calculations, biting her lip when she felt the nervous buzzing of the TARDIS console beneath her fingers.

"I know it's insane, girl," She whispered lowly, hands flying across buttons and screens and levers, "but I don't see any other option…Can you?"

The ship gave a nasty jolt, and this time, she couldn't stop herself from being thrown to the gratings over the rail, crying out as she felt the back of her head smack hard against the metal, glass floor beneath her.

The world tilted.

And it wasn't the Angels.

It was then, lying curled up on the floor, already working to push the pain in her head to the back of her mind, that she noticed it.

The silence.

Her mind…it was silent.

Where…where were her people? Where were the other Time Lords?!

Gasping, bone-deep horror exploding across her thoughts, Jana sent her mind frantically into the suddenly black abyss that surrounded her mind. An abyss that should have been filled with light, with energy, with _voices_!

But there was nothing.

Nothing but cruel, terrifying emptiness.

Without warning, she felt a warm energy surround her mind, the TARDIS' golden consciousness seeping into the bare crevices, connecting with the telepathic centres of her brain and…boosting their sensitivity, acting as a sort of bridge in the abyss that surrounded her.

And then she saw it.

At the edge of the black, vast space was a light.

Just one.

One, bright spark in the never-ending silence.

…Jana raced towards it.

…

_Ah, ha, ha, ha! And who do you think that one, lone light might be? _

_Please Review! _


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who

…

Breathing heavily, the Doctor quickly turned to face the humans.

"Right, okay, here's the plan. Father, you and your Clerics, you're staying here to look after Amy. Anything happens to her, I'll hold every single one of you responsible – twice. River," He called, "you're with me. We're going to the Primary Flight Deck."

All it took was one distracted glare for River to swallow her questions and stand, swiftly gathering what they'd need for their sprint through the forest.

"Doctor," Octavian interrupted, voice soft but stern, "I'm coming with you. My Clerics will look after Miss Pond. There are my best men. They'd lay down their lives in her protection."

His eyes closed in aggravation. "I don't need you."

"I don't care," The Bishop countered. "Where Doctor Song goes, I go."

A bitter laugh escaped him, "Are you two engaged or something?"

"Yes, in a manner of speaking," Octavian stated, holding his gun close. "Marco, you're in charge till I get back."

"Sir."

"Doctor? Please, can't I come with you?" Amy called a little desperately from where she was sitting on the mossy tree trunk.

Listening to the Bishop's crisp reply, the Doctor barely supressed a growl.

Why were they wasting time?!

"I don't want to sound selfish, but you'd really speed me up," Amy retorted waspishly, drawing a small grin to his lips.

Little Amelia Pond really was very brave.

"You'll be safer here, Amy," He forced all irritation from his voice, knowing, deep down, that she was scared and his less than composed reaction to the Angels' threat wasn't her fault. "We can't protect you on the move. I'll be back for you as soon as I can, I promise."

"You always say that," The redhead muttered under her breath, making him frown.

"I always come back," He reiterated, unable to make himself waste any more time with comforting, yet, useless, words. "Good luck, everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Amy, later. River, going to need your computer!"

With that, he raced down the small hill, catching up with the already moving Octavian and frizzy blonde, taking the outstretched machine with eager hands.

"What's that?"

"Er," More concerned with imputing the readings from his sonic screwdriver than sating River's curiousity, he muttered, "readings from the crack in the wall."

They moved quickly through the forest, the Bishop in the lead, scouting for Angels as they moved over broken tree branches and small bodies of water.

"…What were the Angels talking about back there?" When River finally spoke, her voice was soft, hushed, immediately capturing his attention. "They said you were hiding something in the TARDIS…what?"

He looked at her.

Silent.

Her lips pursed.

"You can tell me, Doctor," She snapped, almost annoyed at his lack of trust. "I only want to help."

But all he did was look back at the machine's results, speeding his pace.

"Here's what I think," He spoke, looking up at the canopies they were speeding under. "One day, there's going to be a very big bang. So big every moment in history, past and future, will crack."

From the corner of his eye, he watched River's face contort with strong disappointment, but she let it go, allowing him to dictate the subject of their conversation without another word.

"How is that possible?"

The Doctor turned, cutting her off.

"How can you be engaged, in a manner of speaking?" He demanded.

Sharp eyes caught the brief flash of panic that darted across the blonde's eyes, the way the skin around her mouth tightened, causing his own suspicion to swell.

What was she hiding?

"Well," The smirk on her lips was tense; "I've always been a sucker for a man in uniform."

It seemed that that comment, though, was one too many for the no-nonsense Father Octavian.

Before he could reply, the Bishop stepped up. "Doctor Song's in my personal custody," His eyes held the Doctor's firmly as he spoke, the seriousness in his voice absolute. "I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she's accomplished her mission and earned her pardon…Just so we understand each other."

Eyes wide, the Doctor watched as Octavian turned, resuming their course through the trees.

"You were in Stormcage?!" He squawked, whirling around to face a very unhappy looking River.

But before he could get his answer, the computer beeped in his hands, dragging his attention down.

"What?" The blonde questioned urgently, seeing the look on his face. "What is it?"

"The date," He answered softly, confused. "The date of the explosion, where the crack begins."

An annoyed sigh left the woman standing beside him. "And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?"

He tapped the screen, looking past her and over her shoulder, into the trees.

"Amy's time."

The horribly tense silence that followed that revelation lasted all of three seconds before he was moving again, mind racing as he followed Octavian's plotted path.

How could it be Amy's time? What were the chances of that level of coincidence? None, his mind whispered. And he knew he was right. In all of space and time, for him to have chosen mere minutes before the explosion that cracked the universe to spirit little Amelia Pond from her too big house, was all but impossible.

It was as these thoughts were flying through his mind, gathering momentum as he became more and more lost to the infinite calculations such chance would involve, that pain suddenly rippled across his mind, making him stumble.

"Doctor!"

Gasping, not even feeling River's frantic hands pulling him upright, the Doctor pressed both palms to his head, eyes clenched shut against the awful pressure suddenly bearing down on an abyss that had been nothing but dead for years now.

"…_Hello?" _

His body twitched, the small, barely audible call sounding wrong in the absolute silence he'd become accustomed to in the years since the war.

"_Hello?! Please! Answer me!"_

And suddenly, reason broke though the pain clobbering at his mind, at the shields he'd had to raise to keep his sanity all these years, shields that held back the abyss of darkness that had taken the place of billions of minds, of his people. Protecting him.

Jana.

Supressing the gasping sob that clawed at his throat, the Doctor sunk his teeth into his lower lip, taking no notice of the rising questions being shouted around him, of the familiar voices calling his name.

With single-minded purpose, the Doctor grasped the mental shields he'd built so painstakingly all those years ago…and ripped.

With every ounce of mental strength, he tore, sliced, and clawed at the barriers separating him from the urgent consciousness on the other side, frantic to get free of his sudden prison.

"Doctor! Doctor! What can I do?!" River's voice came from as if a great distance, but he didn't care.

"_Why won't you answer me?!" _Jana's mental voice screamed.

The mental shield around his mind fell with a soundless crash, energy flaring out towards the only other light in the darkness with purpose.

"_Jana!" _

All it took was a thought, a wish for her name, and she was suddenly there, the warmth of another Time Lord consciousness making him sag in the arms holding him upright, tears tracking down his cheeks.

"_Who are you? Why wouldn't you answer me?"_

"_Jana…"_

"_You know me?"_

He didn't know whether to laugh or rage at those three little words.

Of course, he knew her.

"_Yes," _He answered soothingly, sensing the panic in her mind. _"I know you're confused-"_

"_Confused doesn't begin to cut it!" _Jana's mental voice snapped, making him smirk. _"But I don't have time to get into all that right now."_

He could feel his body's arms being lifted, settling onto something as he was moved, but for all the urgency of his own situation, the Doctor refused to cut off the first telepathic communication he'd been a part of since the war.

"_What do you mean?" _The demand in his question was clear, worried, the Angels' threat replaying in his mind. _"What's wrong?"_

"_Am I in your TARDIS?" _She asked instead, and the Doctor sensed the Time Lady retreating from their mental connection slightly, as if her attention had suddenly split between two things.

"_Yes," _No use concealing the fact. _"Now tell me, what's wrong?"_

"_Where the hell are we?" _Again, she didn't answer the question, pricking an age-old irritation he'd felt from the first moment he'd ever directly spoken to the Time Lady in question. _"I've got dozens of Weeping Angels on my doorstep and an antique TARDIS in which to use to escape them! What is going on?!"_

Antique TARDIS?!

But her words quickly overrode all sense of indignation.

"_What do you mean you're surrounded? They can't have reached you yet! They're not strong enough!"_

"_Well, your kitsch little monitor, here, would disagree!" _She practically shouted, the Doctor getting a vague sense of her pushing and pulling levers as she raced around the TARDIS console.

He'd gone too long without telepathic contact to his kind.

It was taking the majority of his concentration to maintain their mental connection, let alone his physical one too!

"Doctor," River's panicked voice suddenly intruded, distracting him. "Please, come back. You have to come back! The Angels, Doctor. They're gaining on us."

With effort, more effort than it should have taken, he reached back towards Jana.

"_Just get out of there," _He ordered, images of stone Angels closing in on the blue box flashing through his mind. _"Any time, any place, just go!"_

"_You don't think I've tried?!" _Jana cried, angry. _"And where do you get off ordering me about, huh?"_

"_Good Gods, this is not the time!" _Even his mental voice was growling now, unwilling to cater to her stubbornness. _"Just go!"_

"_I can't!"_ She shot back, having evidently agreed with his angry point. _"The Angels have locked on to the TARDIS. I can't get out."_

His hearts stopped.

But it seemed as though Jana had as little patience for his worry as he did her obstinacy.

"_This is your TARDIS, tell me, can she handle a jump into the Void and back?" _Jana demanded, distracted. _"If I'm quick – and don't bother telling me how dangerous it is, I already know – can she do it? Will she be able to get me back?"_

"_You can't be serious!" _Ignoring her instruction, the level of his concern quickly transforming into fury, the Doctor couldn't stop the flow of words that leaped across their mental connection. _"The High Council locked the dimensions away at the start of the War, the Void is suicide!"_

"_So is waiting here for the TARDIS shields to fall!" _Jana screamed back, but he could hear the shock behind her own anger.

Neither of them was used to having to justify themselves.

"_Have you tried inverting the sternal lining? Heating up the coils and manufacturing a two-Kinal space pocket?" _He roared back, knowing that the only thing that was going to stop her from executing her insane plan was a workable alternative. _"Well have you?!"_

"_Give me a minute!" _She screamed, and he knew she was trying just that. _"I already tried the sternal lining but the space pocket…hold on," _The order was firm, easy, the expectation of obedience absolute.

His teeth ground together.

"…_Well?!"_

"_Tell you what, you can either wait until I have something to tell you, or my sudden mental absence will be answer enough as to the success of your plan. Now, shut up!" _

"_Gods, you haven't changed at all," _He growled.

"Doctor!"

And with that scream, the mental connection snapped, broken.

His eyes flew open.

"Oh, thank god," River breathed, standing over him, eyes closing in relief.

Without a word, unable to even hold the blonde's gaze for fear of unleashing his anger on her – it wasn't her fault. How could she possibly know what her ill-timed yell had caused? What it had dragged him away from? _Who _it had taken him from? – the Doctor leapt to his feet, eyes darting wildly between the countless visible stone statues now surrounding them.

"Keep your eyes on them!" He shouted, whirling to fact the metal door in front of him, already scanning. "And remember, don't blink! Do not blink!"

"What happened to you?" River demanded; eyes fixed on their approaching enemies. "You wouldn't wake up. Why?"

"Doesn't matter," He muttered, hands fumbling in their effort to adjust the settings on the sonic, his mind in chaos.

"Of course, it matters!" River snarled, almost taking her eyes off the Angels to shoot him a glare before catching herself. "…Of _course_, it matters."

The door abruptly opened to reveal the Primary Flight Deck.

"Doctor Song, get through, now," Father Octavian ordered, shoving her physically through the opening. "Doctor? Doctor."

But all he could do was shake his head, his mind reaching, frantically, towards the lone light in the darkness.

"Doctor, we have to move."

But he didn't have the strength.

How? How could he fail now?!

"We have to move, sir! The Angels could be here any second!"

Telepathy was like any other skill, any other muscle in the body, you had to use it to improve strength. Being inside mental shields for years now, ever since the end of the War, his telepathic abilities had been crippled. Nothing that other species would notice, but Time Lords? His people _lived _through a shared mind! It was a way of life perfected over billions of years!

And he couldn't even reach her!

"Doctor."

Something in the Bishop's voice that time made him turn, a tenseness, a…defeat…that had him spinning where he stood.

Oh no.

"Let him go," He ordered lowly, furious to see the Cleric trapped within the embrace of an Angel, its arm at his throat.

"Well," Octavian cleared his throat, "it can't let go of me, sir, can it? Not while you're looking at it."

"I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you."

"It's going to kill me anyway. Think it through. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me."

The guilt was strong. "Can't you wriggle out?"

"No," Octavian tried to shake his head but couldn't, smiling a small smile, "it's too tight. You have to leave me, sir. There's nothing you can do."

"You're dead if I leave you," He told him, holding the Bishop's eyes.

"Yes. Yes, I'm dead. And before you go-"

"I'm not going," The Doctor cut him off, his own guilt weighing heavily now as he watched the man's eyes lose their fight, becoming resigned.

"Listen to me, it's important," Octavian insisted, straining uncomfortably against the Angel's arm. "You can't trust her."

"Trust who?"

"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is."

He ran his tongue along the inside of his teeth, hands fists.

"Then tell me."

But the Doctor could already see the answer in the Bishop's eyes. "I've told you more than I should. Now please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends."

Indecision gripped him.

"Just tell me why she was in Stormcage?"

"…She killed a man. A good man," Octavian stressed. "A hero to many."

"…Who?"

"You don't want to know, sir. You really don't."

He stepped closer now, his concern expanding beyond the Bishop's imminent death, beyond the guilt that was going to hit him as soon as he turned his back.

"Who did she kill?"

"Sir, the Angles are coming," Octavian ignored him, watching over his shoulder, urgency thick. "You have to leave me."

"You'll die," He breathed, heart heavy.

The Bishop smiled though. "I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that, I thank God, and bless the path that takes you to safety."

The Doctor could only shake his head, the man's bravery difficult not to admire.

"_It didn't work," _Jana's unexpected voice was quiet in his mind, far away, but it was all he needed to hear to turn his blood cold.

"I wish I'd known you better," He told Octavian sincerely, meaning it.

"I think, sir, you know me at my best."

"_I'm sorry. I'm out of time."_

He swallowed. "Ready?"

Octavian smiled. "Content."

"…_I'll try to bring her back in one piece."_

Jaw clenched, the Doctor dived, slamming the hatch closed behind him.

…

"Okay, girl," Jana murmured, wrapping both hands around the lever that would activate the complicated calculations she'd inputted into the TARDIS matrix, "you and me."

Hearing the strong hum of agreement from the rotor, she couldn't help but grin, relishing the chance to travel inside a TARDIS once again, despite the deadly situation she was facing.

The War had taught her a lot.

Every small moment of happiness had to be grasped with both hands. No matter the circumstances from which it arose.

With one last glance at the nearly dead shield energy, the image of the Angels outside flickering on the monitor, Jana wrenched down the lever, holding her breath.

The TARDIS shuddered.

Gasping, Jana couldn't help closing her eyes against the horrible feel of the Void, needing nothing more than the tingling sensation on her skin to tell her she'd been successful.

The Angels had made travelling anywhere in time and space impossible, draining the TARDIS of energy. But there was one place that required no movement in time, no movement in space.

The Void was everywhere.

It was only a matter of reaching it.

…And then getting back.

Breathing out slowly, Jana suddenly leapt into action, purposefully keeping her eyes away from the TARDIS energy levels.

There wasn't anything she could do about it.

Grabbing the monitor screen with both hands, she peered closer, pleased to see the evidence of dozens of stone Angels floating chaotically into the Void around them, unable to navigate the space.

Until her eye caught on something else.

Hanging onto the outside of the TARDIS were the same four Angels who had locked onto the machine in the first place, no longer grinning…but angry.

"Damn," She whispered.

…

"Hello? Are you there? Hello?" Amy whispered into the communicator, frowning. "Hello?"

"I'm here," Marco's voice crackled over the radio, making her shoulders sag in relief. "I'm fine. Quite close to it now."

Pressing her hand into her leg, Amy shook her head. "Then come back. Come back now, please."

"It's weird looking at it. It feels really-"

A pit grew in her stomach the longer the silence dragged, her breathing increasing in speed.

"Really, what?" Unable to keep still, Amy shifted on the ground, "Hello? Really what? Hello? Hello?...Hello?!...Please, say you're there! Hello? Hello?!"

"Amy? Amy? Is that you?" The Doctor's voice crackled over the communicator, dragging a sob from her chest.

"Doctor?"

"Where are you?" Speaking quickly, she could hear the familiar sonic working in the background as he spoke, settling her pulse. "Are the clerics with you?"

"They've gone," She sniffled, determinedly trying to shake off her fear…if that was even possible. "There was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn't even remember each other."

"No," Even over the communicator, without being able to see him, Amy could still hear the sorrow in his voice. "They wouldn't."

"What is that light?" She heard River ask, slightly softer than the Doctor's voice.

"Time running out," He snapped. "Amy, I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I should never have left you there."

If it were any other situation, she would have laughed.

"Well, what do I do now?"

"You come to us," The Doctor instructed. "The Primary Flight Deck, the other end of the forest."

"I can see. I can't even open my eyes!"

"Turn on the spot," Was the only reply she was given.

"Sorry, what?"

"Just do it. Turn on the spot."

Reluctantly, Amy forced herself to her feet, moving around shakily.

"When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, that means you're facing the right way. Follow the sound…You have to start moving now. There's time energy spilling out of that crack, and you have to stay ahead of it."

"But the Angels, they're everywhere."

It took a moment for him to answer.

"I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you."

Her heart thudded.

"What does the Time Energy do?"

"Just keep moving," The Doctor ordered, ignoring her question.

But Amy shook her head. "Tell me."

"If the Time Energy catches up with you, you'll never have been born. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at _all_…Now, keep your eyes shut, and keep moving."

Biting her lip, Amy dragged in a deep breath, forcing her feet to move.

He'd told her to trust him, before, and she wanted to, she really did, she wanted to believe that she would survive this, but…

"_Amy," She shivered as the Doctor's breath raced across her cheeks, strangely cool, "you need to start trusting me. It's never been more important."_

"_But you don't always tell me the truth."_

_Amy could almost see him smile._

"_If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me."_

"_Doctor," She whispered, "the crack in my wall, how can it be here?"_

"_I don't know yet, but I'm working it out," He assured her, sweeping the hair from her eyes, despite them still being closed. "Now, listen. Remember what I told you when you were seven?"_

_No._

"_What did you tell me?" Amy frowned, trying to remember but unable to._

"_No. No, that's not the point." Her entire body stilled as the Doctor pressed his forehead to hers, breathing heavily. "You have to remember, Amy. You have to remember __**everything**__. Please. She's all I have left, and it's all down to you…We need you, little Amelia Pond. __**I **__need you…to remember."_

"_Remember what?" She frowned, real concern beginning to tug at her belly. "Doctor? Doctor?"_

Amy swallowed, feeling the uneven ground with her feet as she moved forward.

That small conversation with the Doctor had been running in her mind, over and over, ever since the man had left. She was worried, worried because…she'd never heard so much emotion in his voice. He'd almost been pleading,_ begging, _with her to remember.

…But he'd never said what.

"Amy, listen to me," The Doctor's voice suddenly sprung to life, making her jump. "I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. It'll beep if there's something in your way. You just manoeuvre till the beeping stops, because…Amy, this is important…the forest is full of Angels. You're going to have to walk like you can see."

"What do you mean?" She breathed, frightened.

"Look," The Doctor sighed, "just keep moving."

…And so she did.

…

_AH! First contact! Yay! Jana really doesn't take any flack from him, does she? ;D _

_I'd love to hear what you thought!_


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who

…

"That Time Energy," River asked quickly, "what's it going to do?"

Distracted from his work at the console, the Doctor frowned. "Er, keep eating."

_You can't trust her._

Octavian's words seemed to boom inside his head, infiltrating everything, fraying at his hard-won control.

"How do we stop it?"

But it was hard.

Amy was out there, blind, surrounded by Weeping Angels, and he couldn't…he just…the only thing he could seem to think about was Jana!

"Feed it," He said shortly.

"Feed it what?" River pressed, not giving an inch.

Closing his eyes, hands fists, the Doctor breathed out harshly, trying to hold on to his patience.

"A big, complicated space time event should shut it up for a while."

"Like what, for instance?"

And just like that, the iron hold over his temper slipped.

"Like me, for instance!" He roared furiously, uncaring of the truly startled, frightened expression that flashed across River's face under the force of his glare.

A soft beep called him back from the edge.

"What's that?" Amy's soft, timid voice sounded through the communicator, making him break gazes with the frozen Dr Song.

Grabbing the radio, he brought it to his mouth, "It's a warning. There are Angels round you now." His fingers flexed. "Amy, listen to me, this is going to be hard but I know you can do it. The Angels are scared and running, and right now, they're not that interested in you. They'll assume you can see them and their instincts will kick in. All you've got to do is walk like you can see." As the instructions fell from his lips, he could see River's horrified expression out of the corner of his eye, knew he was asking for the impossible, but it was the only way! "Just don't open your eyes. Walk like you can see." Exhaling, he supressed the urge to yell. "You're not moving. You have to do this. Now! You have to do this!"

When he heard the tell-tale sound of shuffling over the radio, he closed his eyes before quickly returning to his earlier task at the controls.

They didn't have the time for luxuries such as relief.

"Doctor?" Amy's suddenly panicked voice called through the radio, making him spin. "I can't find the communicator. I dropped it. I can't find it, Doctor. Doctor."

He swallowed hard.

"Doctor. Doctor!"

His eyes connected with Rivers.

"…Doctor…"

He could only watch as a bright light suddenly flashed into existence, mute in his own incredible relief as he watched the blonde archaeologist catch his redhead companion, hurriedly reminding her to keep her eyes closed, reassuring her that she was safe.

"You're on the Flight Deck. The Doctor's here. I teleported you." River turned to him, a pleased smirk on her lips. "See? Told you I could get it working."

Grinning, he barked out a laugh.

"River Song, I could bloody kiss you!"

The smirk on her lips, if possible, widened. "Ah well," River tossed her frizzy hair over her shoulder, "maybe when you're older."

Before he even had a chance to take in the fact that she'd clearly thought his comment hadn't been purely jovial, but had actually contained a kernel of truth, an alarm blared loudly, redirecting his attention.

"What's that?"

"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power," He told them, knowing without having to be told just how scared Amy must have been out there in the forest for her to currently be so silent. "Which means, the shield's going to release."

As he spoke the last word, the bulkhead suddenly rose, revealing a tide of stone Angels.

The Doctor straightened.

"Angel Bob, I presume," He said, eyeing the statue holding the dead cleric's communicator.

"The Time Field is coming," Crackling through the radio, he felt his gut clench at the memory of just how the Angels had obtained the power of speech. "It will destroy our reality."

"Yeah, and look at you all, running away. What can I do for you?"

"There is a rupture in time. The Angels had intended to use the one hidden in your TARDIS to close the crack, but she is now beyond our reach."

The mention of Jana sent his simmering anger roaring, the silence in his mind, his worry and barely held panic threatening to pour forth at the reminder that he _still didn't know where or even how she was_!

"Yes, well," Deliberately clearing his throat, he couldn't stop the iciness from seeping into his voice in those next few words, "She always has been good at slipping past those who would seek to capture her."

The truth of that statement was undeniable.

Bitter.

"The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved," The communicator stuttered with static, making him smile.

They were desperate.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do that, could do that," He mused, nodding. "But why?"

"Your friends will also be saved."

"Well, there is that."

Sudden movement out of the corner of his eyes distracted him, pulling his gaze to a stubborn, scared looking River.

"I've travelled in time," The blonde announced, stepping forward. "I'm a complicated space time event too. Throw me in."

He didn't know whether to smile or scoff.

"Oh, be serious," The Doctor's eyes rolled. "Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated than you, and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip."

"Doctor," River growled through her teeth, "I can't let you do this."

"No, seriously, get a grip."

"You're not going to die here!"

Of course, he wasn't! There was no way he was letting himself be thrown into the crack! Maybe…_before_…he would have…but not now. Not after he'd found her. He had no intention of leaving Jana alone in the universe, the last of their kind, as he had been. No intention of leaving her to suffer such an agonizing fate. He would find her. He would find her, and he would find the TARDIS, and they would finally, _finally_…talk.

Because he refused to believe he'd lost her again.

Not now.

Not like this.

Not ever.

"No, I mean it," He gave the blonde a pointed glare, mentally screaming at her to hurry up and get it! "River, Amy, get a grip."

Blue eyes blinked, confused, before comprehension filled the blonde's eyes.

"Oh, you genius," River breathed, grinning ear-to-ear as she rushed to Amy's side.

"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now."

"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship. Every last bit of it. And you know what?" Wrapping his hand around the controls, he didn't even try to soften the dark look in his eyes when he swept them over the army of statues waiting at the bulkhead. "I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or, to put it another way, Angels…Night, night."

Throwing his other arm over the controls, the Doctor gritted his teeth as he felt the ship tilt, turning his head to watch the Angels fall through space, into the blinding crack below.

The rupture snapped shut.

…

A hot spark suddenly exploded above the console, forcing her back.

"Think, Jana. Think!" Beyond angry with herself, her eyes widened when she felt the faintest rumblings begin beneath her feet.

A warning.

With a cry, she fell back, latching onto the metal railing around the console, holding on for dear life as the TARDIS began to shake.

More and more, the vibrations grew, sending shocks of pain through her neck, exploding in her temples.

Her legs collapsed.

Curled around the railings, eyes shut against the world - sure the TARDIS was about to be ripped apart by the Void energy, having been there too long - everything suddenly stopped.

"…What the…?" She breathed, shaky hands pressing against the glass floor, forcing herself up.

Stumbling towards the console, Jana could barely believe it when she caught sight of the Angels who had so ferociously clung to the TARDIS, now spinning into oblivion.

"My God, girl," Laughing, she pressed her hand to her eyes, "You are _good_."

A weak hum was all the answer she received, springing her into action.

Flicking switches, eyes fierce, she wrenched the lever back up; hoping against hope the old machine still had enough energy in her to break back into their universe.

"Come on, come on, come on! Please!"

…

Striding over stone, the Doctor paid no attention to the two frantic calls over his shoulder, too intent on reaching his goal.

It had to be there.

It just had to!

Dropping down a boulder he really should have climbed, feeling his ankles creak in protest, nothing could have described the pure dread that snaked through him at the sight of that empty beach.

Breathing heavily, his eyes trailing over the expanse of empty sand, he forced his feet forward.

"Doctor!"

"It should be here," He breathed, gazing wildly over the shore, hoping against hope to spot that beautiful blue box.

But there was nothing.

"Doctor!" Amy gasped, grabbing a hold of his arm as she came to a stop, puffing from the effort of trying to keep up with him. "Why did you take off like that? You could have waited," She grouched, annoyed.

But he could barely hear her, too caught on the emptiness in front of him.

"Doctor?" Her voice was soft now, worried, as she read his expression.

Clenching his jaw, he shook Amy's hand off his arm, skin crawling at the sensation of her suddenly restraining grip.

It wasn't possible.

He couldn't have lost her!

Not again!

"Doctor, what is it?" Considerably more cautious, River Song sidled carefully up to his side, following his silent gaze with her own. "…Where's the TARDIS?" Clipped, suddenly worried, her voice was like nails on a blackboard.

"Shut up," He whispered hoarsely, stepping away from the humans that flanked him, needing space, needing air! "Just be _quiet_."

And, mercifully, they obeyed.

Hands tight at his sides, the Doctor let his eyes fall closed with infinite purpose, breathing out slowly.

"…_Jana…"_

Silence. Absolute silence.

Swallowing back his bone-deep fear, the Doctor forced his mind through the horribly familiar abyss surrounding his thoughts. The terrible blackness that had almost driven him mad in the days following the end of the Time War. The constant, pure, unimaginable heaviness that had taken the place of billions of bright minds, constantly talking, constantly laughing, screaming, crying, just…there…Trying to find her.

"_Jana please," _He begged, choking back his tears, _"You have to be there. You have to be!"_

"Doctor," River's genuinely nervous voice broke him out of his search, snapping the thread that had grown so, so thin in the years since the War. "Where's the TARDIS?"

"I-don't-know!" He screamed, flinging her arms away, tripping.

His knees fell into the sand, hands instinctively coming up to break his fall.

Why? Why did he have to come here? Why couldn't he have ignored the mystery? The questions? Why did he _always_ choose wrong?!

"Doctor," Amy's choked call was lost on the wintry wind, to the grief of his thoughts.

…The pain in his hearts.

And, yet, caught as he was in his grief, to the second collapse of his world, something, somewhere, still searched.

Refusing to give up.

"…_Help…"_

The Doctor froze.

Hands fisted in the sand, shoulders shaking, hating the world…he froze.

"…_Please…help…"_

"Jana!" He gasped, head snapping up.

Leaping to his feet, he took no notice of the way River had to stumble backwards, how her comforting hand fell from his back, how Amy shot her a frantic look, all he heard was that one, whispered plea.

"She's alive," Raking his hands through his hair, he spun to face his companions, knowing his face was split in a grin. "She's alive!" He laughed loudly, twisting around.

"Who's alive-?"

"Do you know where she is-?"

Amy and River talked over each other, both scrambling forward.

"Doctor, can you get her back?" River rushed to ask, her own considerable anxiety plain to see.

Or, at least he would have, if all laughter hadn't long since fallen from his face, dark resolve overruling everything.

"She's stuck in the Void. But I can't-" The words fell all a tumble from his lips, his feet pacing agitatedly across the sand, urgent. "The TARDIS can't get a lock…but what if I-" With a violent motion of his hand, he cut off his own thought, "no! It wouldn't work! Argh!"

"Doctor, Doctor, please, tell us what's going on!" Amy demanded, trying to stop his pacing only to be brushed aside. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know," River explained quickly, the words barely penetrating his racing thoughts, "something's happened to the TARDIS, but I don't know what."

"Signal!" He cried, shouting the word to the sky. "That's it! She needs a signal! A light in the dark! A crumb to follow home! That's it!"

In one continuous motion, the Doctor reached into his jacket, pulling his sonic screwdriver from the breast pocket, pointed it straight up and flicked it on.

The Void must have sucked too much power from the TARDIS, stranding her there. She didn't have enough energy to pilot her way back into the Vortex and find the lock she needed to re-enter their universe by herself!

But his screwdriver was a part of the TARDIS. Engineered by the ship, for him.

And by Gods, if there was only one signal she could lock on to in the Void, recognise enough to haul herself back into reality…it was this screwdriver!

"Work. Come on, work," He urged, hissing through his teeth, "_Work_!"

…

River couldn't help but laugh when she heard the sound of the TARDIS engines materialising, the faint outline of that beloved blue box phasing into existence.

Thank God.

Closing her eyes, she laughed into her hands, shaking her head.

She should have known he'd get her back. That the Doctor wouldn't stand for being separated from his beloved TARDIS, that he'd find a way.

He always did.

Still, for a while there, River could admit that she'd…questioned. The pure devastation that had been written across the Doctor's face was like none she'd ever before witnessed. He'd truly been afraid that he'd lost the box. That it was out of his reach.

She shouldn't have panicked so much.

Shaking herself, River smiled as she watched the TARDIS complete its journey, materialising in exactly the same place they'd left her. Looking none the worse for wear.

The Doctor took off, sprinting for the doors.

Amy on his heels.

Ambling along the beach, content to reach the ship at her own speed, showing none of the hurry of the pair in front of her, River stopped dead at the sight of those familiar doors suddenly flying open, smoke billowing from the interior.

The Doctor's speed increased.

"Jana!"

Heart pumping, River felt her legs start to run, eyes on nothing but the open TARDIS doors. Doors that shouldn't be open. Doors that should always remain locked until the Doctor twisted the TARDIS key in the lock, allowing entrance to the marvel that was inside. Doors that should never have flung wide like that…not when it was empty. Not when its only three passengers were currently running full sprint towards the smoking blue box.

"Jana!"

The shadow was her only warning.

Just as the Doctor reached the TARDIS doors, a figure suddenly came barrelling out, knocking the Doctor's arms aside as they pushed through, falling to the sand beneath them, coughing.

No…

No. It wasn't…who…?

She'd rarely run so fast in her life.

The Angels. They'd talked about something the Doctor was hiding in his TARDIS. Something they threatened him with. And she'd seen with her own eyes the way the Doctor had reacted. How uncharacteristic, how secretive, how…tunnelled his vision had become each time the Angels brought up that threat.

But she hadn't realised…she'd never thought…

The thing the Doctor was hiding in his TARDIS was a _person_!

A-a woman?

But that wasn't what had her heart rising in her throat, her stomach beginning to churn.

It was what her eyes were seeing.

As soon as the woman fell to her knees, the Doctor was there.

Shoulders shaking, loud, hacking coughs wracking the woman's slim frame, the Doctor was there. His body was kneeling beside hers, half covering her back, as if to shield her from view. From _them. _He was there, one arm curled around her shoulders, keeping her from collapsing with the force of her coughs, running the sonic over her body with single-minded determination, analysing her results with brilliant green eyes.

He could see nothing but her.

The realisation almost sent her tumbling to the beach, the conclusion so strange, so _wrong, _River immediately dismissed it from her mind.

The Doctor was many things; compassionate, brilliant, caring, kind, dangerous…but he wasn't ever completely _there. _She'd seen it; so many times she'd lost count. The Doctor's mind flew in so many different directions, at such speeds as couldn't be matched, no one ever completely captured his attention.

No one.

She didn't know if it was because of the centuries he'd spent in the Vortex, time holding no power over the man, but he was always _just _out of reach.

Even to her.

Even as his wife.

Which is how she knew she'd misinterpreted the look in the Doctor's eyes when he'd seen that woman fall through the open TARDIS doors, following her down to the beach at their feet. Because River had never seen total, uncontaminated concentration on the Doctor's face before. And she sure as hell knew that if his face should ever expose such a sentiment…it wouldn't be directed at a person.

A person _she _didn't know about.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," Amy's continuous chant fell on deaf ears as she skidded to a stop beside the kneeling pair, eyes serious. "Is she okay? What's wrong with her? Do you need me to get anything?"

"Breathe," The Doctor's calm, deep instruction seemed to penetrate her own internal whirlwind, as if the words were meant for her and her alone. "Breathe, Jana."

Jana.

…

_Ahhh! What did you think? Did you like? Not like? I'd LOVE to know!_


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who

…

"Don't you t-think I'm t-t-trying!" The blonde woman in the Doctor's arms gasped through her heaving coughs, voice horribly rough. "I've got smoke t-trapped in m-m-my lungs, God d-dammit!"

River's eyebrows rose.

"Here," The Doctor, however, seemed already well aware of this fact, pressing something into the woman's hands. "Breathe this in."

"W-what is it?" Horrible, quaking coughs broke through the words, pulling the first scowl she'd seen from the Doctor since the TARDIS had materisalised.

"Would you just do it?!" He snapped, none of the calming, sure confidence River was used to permeating his demeanour, nothing of the routine techniques she was used to witnessing when he wanted to get difficult individuals to do what he said.

"What happened to the TARDIS?" Amy piped up, leaning her head around the doors to peak inside. "Looks like a bomb went off in there."

"Nevermind that," The Doctor waved her mother away, still concentrated on the shuddering woman in his arms, nodding with satisfaction when she finally followed his instructions and inhaled a white dust from the object he'd gifted to her.

"Who are you?" River heard the words leave her mouth, heard the strangeness of her own tone, but couldn't disguise it. "Why…why were you in the TARDIS?"

And then, for the first time, the woman looked up.

Straight, white-blonde hair framed a gentle, young face, pale skin only seeming to enhance and call attention to wide, large blue eyes framed by black lashes.

Angelic.

If there was one description River could assign to the woman currently held so tightly in the Doctor's arms, it was…angelic.

She wasn't extraordinarily beautiful, she wasn't someone who would stop men in their tracks or always be the loveliest woman in a room…but she was attractive. _Very _attractive. Her features were soft, kind-looking. But most of all, when those doe-like eyes connected with hers, River saw the…intelligence, the _fire_, that was so much a part of this woman, she almost wanted to look away. Because there was no calmness in that fire, no cold – this woman's spirit was _burning_.

How? How could a person that looked so angelic, so gentle, so…icy…possess such fire?

And River found herself frowning; unsettled by the pure dichotomy she could see in the woman's big blue eyes.

The contradiction.

"Good question," The woman said slowly, sweeping River with her gaze before shifting her stare to the Doctor, eyes narrow. "But, I assure you, if you're looking for answers, you're asking the wrong person."

The Doctor's expression shuttered, becoming blank as he quietly unwound his arms from around the woman's now clearly healthy figure, rocking back on his heels.

"You're alright?" He asked softly, searchingly.

A painful buzz suddenly erupted in her side, making River's eyes widen as she looked down at the tiny pager she'd hidden on the strap of her pants.

The prison ship…it was signalling.

"Doctor…" She called, swallowing hard as she met her love's questioning green gaze as he turned to face her. "They'll be transporting me up any minute now." Never before had she been more uncertain of his emotions at her announcement.

She was used to seeing disappointment flood his eyes, a small, sad smile and nod accompanying her words.

She was used to him being sad to see her go.

Not devastated, no, the Doctor always had another adventure waiting, more excitement, more worlds to explore, and he knew that he'd see her again.

But River was used to knowing that the Doctor would _prefer _for her to stay.

With him.

…But not this time.

Climbing carefully to his feet, as if reluctant, the Doctor turned to face her.

"Can I trust you, River?"

Yes, her mind whispered. Always.

But all River could do was bite her lip, unable to help glancing at the woman still sitting in the sand, watching everything quietly.

"If you like," Forcing a laugh into her voice, she stepped back, knowing she could disappear at any moment…not wanting to.

She so desperately wanted answers to her questions, wanted to know _exactly _who the woman the Doctor had taken into his arms was, but there wasn't any time.

There was never enough time.

"A human…" The woman sitting oh-so-comfortably at their feet spoke softly, but it was enough to capture all three's attention. "Interesting."

River saw Amy bristle out of the corner of her eye and wanted so dearly to smirk, for this to be easier, to not be so confused, she wasn't meant to be so confused this early in the Doctor's timeline! She knew what was coming, what she'd become to him, how important she was to Amy…but she couldn't.

Sky blue eyes settled amongst white-blonde hair seemed to flash across her mind, contaminating everything.

…Why didn't she know who she was?

She should know!

"Yes, well," The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, shooting the woman at his feet a strange, almost nervous look. "Anyway!" Turning back to River, he smiled, a true smile, as if thanking her for her help in the catacombs. "Take care Doctor Song," He said sincerely, "I look forward to meeting you again."

That pulled a smile to her lips.

"The Pandorica," River breathed, feeling her heart swell at the memories of that time with her Doctor, "I remember it well."

She was expecting the Doctor's reaction, knowing perfectly well he didn't believe in the Pandorica, but she never expected the white-blonde enigma sitting on the beach to come so quickly to her feet, so fluidly.

With a cat-like grace, her limbs untangled and stretched, the watchful, patient air around her disappearing so quickly River had to stop herself from scowling.

"The Pandorica?" The woman questioned, arms relaxed at her sides, "What are you talking about?" Sky blue flashed. "The Pandorica isn't real. It's nothing more than a fairy-tale."

"Jana…" The Doctor cautioned, moving to place a restraining hand on her arm only to think better of it, withdrawing. "Let me handle this," The order was soft, gentle, but unmistakable.

And it was the woman's reaction to that order that finally settled River's heart.

With relief, she watched as sky-blue eyes widened before abruptly narrowing, snapping to the Doctor with a glare.

Thank heavens.

Supressing the urge to laugh with relief, River traded an amused glance with her mother, now content in the knowledge that the woman was nothing but a passing guest in the TARDIS. How could she not be? Everyone knew that what the Doctor said goes. His companions might change, his face might change, his habits, his idiosyncrasies, but not his raw personality.

The Doctor was a leader.

It was as simple as that.

No matter how stubborn, how accomplished, how knowledgeable those he encountered, the Doctor always ended up controlling the situations he found himself in. She'd seen it, time and time again. She had never seen her husband confronted with an individual that did not eventually bow to his inherent authority. That didn't instinctively follow him.

If this woman was surprised at the Doctor's order, at his assuming authority over the situation, she couldn't have known him long.

And that was all she needed in order to smile when she felt the transporter lock onto her, for her to turn to the Doctor, smiling flirtatiously, a coy sparkle in her eye, as she spoke of fairy-tales and things to come.

She hadn't known of Jana because there was nothing to know.

The blue-eyed blonde would be forgotten soon enough. Never to be seen again. Inconsequential.

Nothing more.

Laughing, River closed her eyes as the transport energy wrapped around her, taking her away.

…

What the hell was going on?!

Watching the frizzy haired woman disappear, Jana turned back towards the young man whose TARDIS she assumed was currently smoking, only to be met with waiting, hungry green eyes.

"It's rude to stare," She pointed out sharply, folding her arms.

"So is stealing someone else's time machine, Lady!" An angry, irritated voice snapped, drawing her attention to the redhead leaning possessively against a blue box.

"Excuse me?"

"Amy," The man shook his head, giving the human a pointed look, "don't."

Jana felt her frustration rise, growing dangerously close to anger as she watched the two people in front of her seem to have a silent conversation.

A conversation concerning her!

"Alright, enough," She snapped, sweeping her arm through the air. "I want answers. Who are you?"

The Tweed-wearing man sighed, rubbing his forehead with his thumb.

"I can't believe you don't recognise me," She heard him mutter under his breath, almost as if this fact annoyed him.

But suddenly, he was standing tall, hands still at his sides, observing her through intense, impatient eyes.

"I found you," He said simply, clearly, not letting go of her gaze. "I don't know how much you remember, how much you understand of how you came to be here…with me…but we can talk about that later."

Oh, can we?

"I'm the Doctor."

And just like that, Jana felt her stomach drop.

…

"I'm the Doctor."

Never before had he ever felt the magnitude of that name resonate like he was at that moment.

He saw it, the flash of instant recognition, the quick scan of his new, young body, and forced himself to stay still, to wait.

"…The Doctor," Jana breathed, eyes flicking to Amy behind him before chancing a glance at the blue box behind her. "Of course, you are."

And, suddenly, she was laughing.

True, loud, heaving laughs shook her shoulders, her hands pressed to her knees as the blonde nearly collapsed with the strength of her mirth.

"I mean," Jana gasped, pressing a hand to her chest, "I should have known! The strange planet, the _humans_, the antique TARDIS in the shape of your infamous bright blue box! I should have known!"

The Doctor felt his teeth grinding together with the force of his annoyance.

Why was she _laughing_?

Why did she _always _do what he _least _expected her to do?!

"If you're quite done cackling," He sniped, glaring at the woman as he purposefully avoided Amy's wide eyes, too irritated to even begin to muster the interest necessary to explain to the redhead exactly who'd wrecked the inside of his TARDIS, "I'd like to know exactly what you were thinking taking my TARDIS into the Void."

Jana's laughter cut off.

"I mean, apart from it being one of the most moronic plans I've ever even _heard _of, let alone had my ship become the unwilling vehicle in which you carried out your idiotically reckless endeavour, I'd like to know what you were thinking," He spat, true anger making white fists at his sides, horrible images of his beloved blue box and the extraordinary women within being ripped apart in the Void, only serving to add fuel to the fire of his rage. "Do you have any idea what it was like to walk onto this beach to find my TARDIS gone? To understand what you'd done? To know that the only reason you weren't back on this shore was because you mustn't be able to get back?! Do you have any idea what that felt like!" The Doctor roared.

"Doctor," Amy whispered, clutching tightly at his side, never having seen him even close to this level of rage. "Calm down."

But all he could see was Jana's sky-blue eyes, the way shock had settled deep in her gaze, true, uncontaminated shock.

She couldn't comprehend the fact that he was yelling at her.

And with that realisation, the Doctor's frustration grew, furious with the fact that the Time Lady in front of him wasn't sorry for her actions, wasn't sorry for worrying him to death, she was too caught up in her shock that he was daring to scream at her right now, to question her in this way, to even begin to formulate a response.

But her shock didn't last long.

As quick as his own rage had erupted, the Doctor watched an inferno of equal strength spark in Jana's eyes, the blonde's gaze narrowing with warning as her spine deliberately straightened.

"You know," Jana began, "I might not know you Doctor, we've only spoken to each other a handful of times over the centuries, but even I couldn't escape the stories our people would tell of you."

Surprise froze him.

She chuckled, "Oh yes, the Time Lord with a fascination for humans, the man who turns away, who never looks back. The one the Daleks call the Oncoming Storm. Hero, saviour, genius. There was no escaping you on Gallifrey, Doctor. Everyone wanted to talk about the Time Lord that wasn't afraid to break the rules, that journeyed across the universe, changing history forever."

The Doctor swallowed hard as she watched Jana take a deliberate step closer, the look in her eyes cold.

"I don't know how I came to be in your TARDIS, Doctor, and I might not know you well - if it weren't for the War, I doubt we'd even have talked to each other - but I know enough." Jana's voice was soft now. "You're a _runner_. And runners are the most dangerous people in the universe. Don't make the mistake of thinking I'm one of your human companions. I won't accept being spoken to like that, Doctor. Not when I'm not at fault."

Runner.

The word seemed to echo like a gong through his mind, tearing.

He'd always said it; he'd never hidden the fact that he was running, always running, never looking back, but for the first time…

_That's _what she knew of him? Jana, the woman who had captivated him from the first, that have captured his attention and intrigue like no-one else in the universe had ever managed to, that's what she saw him as?

A runner.

A simple, dangerous…runner.

It shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. To realise. She hadn't even meant to be cruel; he could see that plain as day in her eyes. She was angry, yes, indignant that he would speak to her so accusingly, so condescendingly, but through all that, he could see it…Truth.

"Shut-up," Amy suddenly snarled, stepping in front of him, deliberately breaking the Time Lords' locked gaze. "Just shut-up. You don't know him. You don't know anything about him!"

"Amy," The Doctor frowned, pulling her back with quick hands. "Don't. You don't understand, so please, don't."

"But-"

But he just shook his head, feeling the energy drain out of him.

He'd become too used to the worshiping companions he'd acquired through the years, the Doctor abruptly realised.

This wasn't some human in front of him, awed by his presence and capabilities. War-hardened and confident, Jana had _no_ reason to worship him.

The reminder was like a slap in the face.

He'd forgotten. Since the War, since the end of the Time Lords, he'd forgotten what it was like to be around those who could match him. There weren't many on Gallifrey as it was, not many on Skaro or the universe really, but there had always been a small few.

And Jana was one of them.

"I'm sorry," He said clearly, unwilling to allow his pride to stop him from putting this right, from repairing what his thoughtless, anger-driven words had caused. "I was out of line."

Ignoring Amy's shocked, furious gasp at his back, the Doctor kept his eyes on Jana, feeling a small smile touch his lips when he saw the reluctant acceptance enter her gaze.

Because it wasn't just him that would have to curb his tendency to bark and shout and direct orders at all those around him. It was her too.

…

_Fun, Fun, Fun ;D_


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who

…

"So, she's like you then?" Amy snarked from her position against the console railing, glaring darkly in her direction, "I thought you said you were the only-"

Before the human could finish her venomous statement, the Doctor suddenly cut her off, exclaiming loudly as he pulled a lever on the TARDIS.

"Right! Things to do, places to go! Not to mention the TARDIS needs a little fixing after her trip to the Void and back."

But Jana wasn't listening.

Stalking up to the Doctor, she yanked the monitor towards her, already beginning to input Gallifrey's coordinates into the ship.

"What do you think you're doing?" The Doctor squawked, almost sounding panicked as he swiftly took the monitor out of her hands, hastily swinging it back over towards him. "This is my TARDIS, not yours." He shook a reproachful finger at her.

"What are yo…?" She cut herself off, ugly suspicion clenching her hearts. "We need to get back to Gallifrey, Doctor," Jana said slowly, deliberately, never letting her eyes leave the man in front of her. The man that was refusing to meet her gaze. "Now."

"Doctor," The redhead human interrupted, scowling at her, "what is she talking about? You told me that your pl-"

"Can't," Once again, the Doctor interrupted his companion, pressing another button, "After your jump into the Void and back the TARDIS is low on energy, she needs refuelling."

Her eyes narrowed. "Fine. But she can refuel on Gallifrey."

But it seemed the Doctor had been well prepared for this answer.

"Nope! She won't make it that far. Apart from being low on energy she's also got a lot of damage that needs fixing as soon as possible. Afraid we're going to have to take a detour."

"Doctor," Jana growled, disbelieving of how flippant he was being with the lives of their people! Her men needed her! They needed him too! So why was he delaying?! "I will not be kept away from my home."

The Doctor paused, finally looking up to meet her eyes.

She sucked in a sharp breath, the devastated look in his eyes frightening her.

"I'm sorry," The apology that fell from his lips was soft, pained, utterly sincere, "but I can't take you back."

Abruptly, the man broke their shared gaze.

"At least not right now!" The Doctor clarified, jumping around the controls with enthusiasm. "The old girl needs some fixing up, and I'm sure Amy needs some rest after our run-in with the Angels."

"Indeed, Amy does," The female human spoke up, sending the Doctor a long, concerned, look. "In fact, Amy wants you to take her home."

While the Doctor seemed to wilt at those words, Jana felt her anger spark.

"No. No way!" She snapped, rounding the console until she was poking the Doctor in the chest with each word she spoke. "There is no way you are taking some human back to Earth before at least returning me to Gallifrey, do you hear me?! If the TARDIS can manage a trip to Earth, she can make it to Gallifrey!"

But the distressed hum of the walls around them seemed to disagree and Jana felt face drop.

She knew a little about how to interpret the sounds of a TARDIS, the ships were entwined with Time Lords, helping them travel through time and space, protecting them, just as they would protect the machines. They were loyal, so incredibly loyal, and to hear the TARDIS voice her inability to take Jana back home, back to the War, back to her men, the men that would be dying in their thousands in her absence, was devastating.

Her eyes closed with pain.

"I'm sorry," The Doctor whispered, his hand brushing softly against hers, as if unsure how she would take the physical contact.

Jana swallowed. "Not your fault," She said stiffly. "…Fine. We take your human back to Earth, refuel, repair the damage, and then we'll go." Looking up, she raised a questioning eyebrow at the Doctor's strangely blank face, unsure what had put such a look in his eyes. "Are we agreed, Doctor?"

Silence seemed to hang in the air, a tenseness she couldn't find the reason for.

"…Agreed," The Doctor said softly.

…

Amy bit her lip as she watched the Doctor eye her wedding dress, unsure how he was taking the news of her engagement.

"Well," He coughed.

"Yeah."

"Blimey."

Her lips twitched. "I know. This is the same night we left, yeah?" Amy checked, knowing the Doctor didn't exactly have the greatest record in that area.

"We've been gone five minutes," He assured her with a small pat to her knee, but Amy caught the way his eyes drifted to the TARDIS' closed doors.

Their guest hadn't wanted to come.

As soon as they'd landed, Amy had wasted no time in telling the Doctor that she wanted to show him something, something important. She didn't know if he was just being difficult or oblivious to her wish for them to be alone, but he'd promptly turned to the unwelcome Time Lady and cheerfully invited her to come see a real-live human home.

The blonde had been less than impressed.

Without a word, Jana stalked past the grinning Doctor, stomping down the glass steps, and disappeared beneath the console, her intention to begin immediate work on repairs more than clear.

Amy hadn't been pleased to witness the way the Doctor's face had dropped at her deliberate snubbing, nor the guilt that flashed across his eyes as he watched the Time Lady through the glass floor at their feet.

That's when she'd pulled him, forcibly, from the control room, prancing into her room with a wide grin and butterfly's in her stomach.

Moving quickly, Amy reaching over to her bedside table, snatching a velvet box from the surface, holding it out to her Raggedy Man.

"I'm getting married in the morning."

His eyebrows lifted, shooting her an unsure glance. "Why did you leave it here?"

"Why did I leave my engagement ring when I ran away with a strange man the night before my wedding?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm," Amy's neck tilted, "you really are an alien, aren't you?"

But he didn't seem to hear her.

"Who's the lucky fellow?" The Doctor asked instead, apparently having gotten over his shock and now curious.

"You met him."

"Ah, the good looking one, or the other one?"

Amy felt her heart pinch at the mimicry of a large nose the Doctor gave, hitting him softly.

"The other one."

"Well," He coughed, unconvincingly, "he was good too."

"…Thanks," She said slowly, thoughts running quickly through her mind. "So, do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?"

"Why would you need comforting?" His tone was confused now, even a little bored.

"I nearly died," Amy reminded him pointedly. "I was alone in the dark, and I nearly died…And it made me think."

"Well, yes, natural." The Doctor shifted on her bed, making her slide closer, "I think sometimes. Well, lots of times."

Her eyes narrowed. "About what I want," She said slowly, annoyed that he wasn't getting it already – she'd never had this much trouble in the past – "About who I want. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah," The Doctor smiled, but quickly blinked. "No."

"About _who _I want."

"Oh, right," He nodded in a terribly over exaggerated manner, "yeah." There was a short pause. "No, still not getting it."

Shaking her head, now amused more than annoyed, Amy slid closer, licking her lips.

"Doctor. In a word, in one very simple word even you can understand," Her leg moved over his lap, her hands settling on his shoulders as she forcefully tried to take control, leaning down to capture the Doctor's lips.

"No!" Leaping up, pushing her away with panicked hands, the Doctor spun around, hands outstretched as if to ward her off. "You're getting married in the morning!"

"Well, the morning's a long time away," Speaking slowly, a coy smile on her lips, Amy dragged herself up, stalking the quickly retreating Doctor with predatory steps. "What are we going to do about that?"

Pinning him against the TARDIS, she hurriedly pushed down one of his braces, fingers already grasping at the stubborn buttons of his shirt, hoping with speed she might be able to overcome whatever shyness was stopping him from taking what she was so clearly offering him.

"Amy, listen to me!" The Doctor squawked, grabbing her grasping hands in his own, stilling her persistent efforts to undress him. "I am 907 years old! Do you understand what that means?!"

She smiled at him from beneath her lashes. "It's been a while?"

"Yeah. No! No, no, no. I'm 907, and look at me. I don't get older, I just change. You get older, I don't, and this can't _ever _work!"

Rolling her eyes, Amy was just about to open her mouth to reply when the distinct squeak of the TARDIS doors interrupted them.

"Well, well, well…so _this _is what attracts you to the human race so, Doctor."

…

_Damn. That's going to come back to haunt him, huh?_

_Lol, what did you think?! Please, tell me!_


End file.
